A Queen In Moonlight
by CalaisForever
Summary: First COTT fanfic. I always thought Herry should have a girlfriend. Herry/OC Jay/Theresa Archie/Atlanta She was a decendent of a Titan, not a God. And of course there had to be strings attached just to make her life harder. Summary sucks, please read.
1. Destinies Yay

**A/N: 1****st**** ever Class of the Titans fanfic please be nice **** Let me know what you think!**

**Chapter 1: Discoveries**

**Selena's POV**

I was sitting on the hood of my black 2010 Chevrolet Camaro staring at the stars. The moon was full tonight and I basked in its light. The thing I loved about the moon was that, no matter what crazy stuff happened in my life, it was my one constant. No matter what, it was always there, and it was never bigger than my thumb, and it was always beautiful. All of a sudden, I felt like someone was watching me. Being me, I called out, "Who's there and what the hell do you want?" Sure, it probably wasn't bright to antagonize whoever it was, but you haven't met the real me yet. I was 16, 5' 7", curvy, with a pale heart shaped face, killer grey eyes, and waist long pin straight black hair that almost looked blue at night. Anyways, once again, being me, I went to see what it was, knowing very well that I could get myself killed. What I didn't think of was the fact that there might actually be a giant red . . . well, giant waiting for me. And then the most clichéd thing happened. It tried to step on me. I mean, COME ON! Of course, that didn't fly well with me.

"Hey, buddy, watch where you put that thing! I'm down here, doorknob!" I was furious. The giant tried to step on me again, but I quickly dodged and hopped up a tree, then used my foot to push off the tree and kick him across the face. I went with the momentum and completed the turn to land facing the giant. I waited patiently for him to fight back. He rushed at me and I stepped to the side. Suddenly I was lifted off the ground and I felt claws digging into my arms. "What the hell? I was kind of in the middle of something important!"

"Well, hello to you, too. Climb up onto her back and we'll get you to Olympus. I'm Hermes, by the way." He was kind of scrawny and was wearing a white toga and shoes with wings on them.

"Hermes? Okay. Sure, sure. Let's just get to Olympus." I climbed up onto the . . . well, it looked like a hippogriff but that makes me sound crazy, so the . . .thing's . . . back and lay down to enjoy the ride. I actually slept for a bit.

Hermes led me through what looked like a school to a janitor's closet and told me to use my necklace to get in. I pulled out the silver crescent moon that hung around my neck and raise an eyebrow at him. He shook his head and said, "The gold one." So I pulled out the necklace I had found the other day and put it against the keyhole. It opened the door and once we got in I did a full 360 and found nothing.

"What now? There's nothing in here."

"Well, duh, you're supposed to turn on the light. How can you see?"

"Seeing in the dark kind of comes naturally to me," I said, as I turned on the light. All of a sudden, there was this blue wall thing in front of me and Hermes walked right through it. _What the hell?_ I shrugged, _got nothing to lose,_ and followed. It was still dark on the other side because everyone seemed to be asleep, so Hermes led me to a couch and gave me a pillow and blankets that seemed to appear out of nowhere. I lay down on the couch, and waited until he had gone to get up and walk around the room to check it out before lying down on the couch and trying to catch some sleep.

When Hermes woke me up the next morning, there was an older lady with him, but even though her hair was grey, she still had that young twinkle in her eye.

"I'm Hera, Selena. Welcome to Olympus. I hope you slept well?"

"Yes, I was very comfy. I just have to ask; what on earth am I doing here?" I knew that I was probably a mess because I had just gotten up, but I needed to know if this was like a kid's shelter or something, or if my parents had all of a sudden decided to put me up for adoption or what.

Hera smiled gently, "All in good time, my dear. We just have to wait for a few more people, and then all will be explained. In the meantime, you are safe and feel free to look around. Later you will be shown to your dorm." With that the two of them walked away and I decided to just wander around and hope to come across a bathroom or something. Luckily enough I found something even better. Well, kind of. Aphrodite's room. She had plenty of stuff so that I could freshen up, but she kept trying to get me into a dress. That wasn't going to happen anytime soon, in fact it very rarely happened. So, freshened up, I wandered around the gigantic place. I met a lot of people too, and definitely got along with them . . . well most of them. Aphrodite wasn't one of my favourites but she seems to love me so, whatever.

When I got back to the living room (where I slept), there were three more people in there talking to Hera. I looked them over. The one girl seemed really sporty and athletic and she held herself with a proud stance, her name was Atlanta, I learned. I immediately liked her. The one guy was huge. Not fat, but ripped. And probably at least 6' 2". His name was Herry. The last was another guy, probably around 6', and seemed pretty average. You could tell he was in shape and had muscle, but you could also tell he didn't work out hard core like Herry. He was Jay.

"Selena, just in time. I was about to explain why you are all here."

"Perfect."

We started to walk around once again, but I didn't really pay attention this time. I was one of those people that, once you find your way once, it is engraved into your head. I paid a hell of a lot of attention to what Hera was saying though.

"This is Olympus High School. But this, this is a special part of the school will you will learn about your destinies."

"A school?" Herry sounded so surprised.

"Run by Gods?" Atlanta's voice was incredulous.

"What do you mean our destinies?" Jay wasn't too sure about this by the sound of it.

"Oh my, so many questions," Hera raised a hand to stop us, "Four more of you will be arriving soon, but you should begin right away. There is no time to waste."

Hera lead us around the building, stopping to meet a few Gods, some of whom I'd already met, but didn't know they were Gods. Like Hercules and Artemis. We walked in on them arm wrestling. Artemis won, saying, "You should lay off the donuts Hercules your getting soft."

"Children," Hera said, "I'd like you to meet Artemis and Hercules." She stepped aside as we walked up to them.

"Hello!" Artemis greeted us brightly, shaking Atlanta's hand.

"Uh, hi," Atlanta responded quietly.

"Hey hey, look at you!" Hercules put Herry in a choke hold and brought him onto the couch.

"Why are all the Gods of Mount Olympus here, in a school?" Jay's question was valid.

"It's safer for us here," Hera replied, "It also keeps us closer to you, so we can do what we can to protect you from Cronus."

"Cronus?" I was astounded that he was actually alive. He was supposed to be in Tartarus for eternity, "How the hell did he get out?"

"For 4000 years Cronus has been imprisoned in the underworld, but when the planets aligned on New Year's Eve, he was able to draw on the cosmic energy and escape."

"Our clock at home stopped at midnight," Jay pointed out.

"For a second, thanks to Cronus, all time stood still," Artemis said.

"Just long enough for him and some giants to vamoose," Hercules added.

"So, what does this have to do with us?" I asked.

"You have to stop him," Artemis said, as if she was amazed we didn't figure it out.

"Stop him from what?" Atlanta asked.

"From destroying the world," Hera said.

"But no pressure, right," I muttered.

"Cronus used to rule the earth," she went on as if I hadn't said anything, "He was king of Gods and mortals. He wants to rule everything again and, well, let's just say he's not a very benevolent ruler."

"You expect us to save the world?" Jay asked.

"You got it," Hercules said, like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"It is your destiny. The Oracle has seen this. You represent the new generation of heroes," Hera said, "Descendants of the great Jason, Artemis, and Hercules." She looked at the three others, effectively leaving me out.

"I'm related to you?" Herry asked, looking at Hercules.

"Well, think of me as your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandpa. Let's see what you're made of, my boy," Hercules answered, getting up and slapping Harry on the back. With that we got up and went to the exercise room.

"Nobody can lift that much weight," Jay said referring to the insane amount of weights Hercules had thrown on the bar.

"Herry," was all he said in reply. Herry went and picked it up no problem.

"This is too easy!" Hercules threw another bar at him, throwing him off for a second before holding them both high over his head, one in each hand.

"Wow," was all I could think to say.

"Your turn," Artemis said, turning to Atlanta.

Atlanta started running around the track, until Artemis called out, "Okay, Atlanta, open it up." Then she flew at blinding speed, before hurdles popped up out of nowhere, and then discs flew at her. I watched in amazement as she flipped over and around them, before catching one and running over to Artemis, only slightly out of breath, and saying, "You know, you could have told me things were going to shoot at me."

"Pop quiz. Nice job, Atlanta," she responded proudly, "Very impressive."

"I can't do anything like that," Jay said to Hera. He shouldn't be complaining, at least he had some idea of WHY THE HELL HE WAS HERE!

"You're the leader Jay, their fate rests in your hands, as does the fate of the world." Whoa, heavy.

"This is too much," Jay said. I didn't blame the guy; after all he was only a teenager.

"It is a lot for one night. You all need to get some rest. You must be tired. We have a place for you to stay."

"What about our parents?" Jay asked, "My folks must be wondering where I am."

"Don't worry," Hera said, "It's all taken care of."

"Just one more question," I said, speaking up. "What about me?" Hera just looked at me for a second, and then sighed.

"You're a little bit different. You are a direct descendant of Selene, the Titan Goddess of the moon." I heard Artemis let out a humph. I knew all about how Selene was the original Goddess of the moon, but Artemis had taken over that title. "The Titan's have long since left Olympus." And with that she left. _Well thanks for the boat load of information_, I thought sarcastically. _I didn't even get a test or anything. What's going on here?_

As we walked to the dorms, no one said much because we were all lost in our thoughts. What Hera had said actually made sense to me, for some reason. I had always loved the moon and the stars. I was a night owl, so to speak. And I always knew where the moon was and what phase it was in. Not to mention, I could see incredibly well in the dark, and I could basically blend in with the night when I wanted too. Plus my hair was midnight black, and I pretty much always had my sunglasses with me when it was sunny out, like right now, plus I never tan, it isn't possible. The more I thought about it the more it made sense. And I was kind of starting to scare myself.

As we neared the dorm, Jay spoke up, "This is nuts. They've made a mistake. I'm not who they think I am. I'm not a hero!"

"I don't know, Jay," Atlanta responded, "You saved me from that giant."

"Yeah, but that was-"

"Instinct?" I interrupted.

"Look, you guys know who you are and what you can do. Atlanta, you're fast and you know how to hunt. Herry, you're strong. Me; I'm nothing." K, forget me much.

"Hey," I said, "Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm in the same boat as you."

"Yeah," Herry agreed, "Those Gods back there must know what they're doing."

"Here's the dormitory," Atlanta effectively changed the subject. "Who's this Athena that's supposed to take care of us?"

"She's the Goddess of war," Jay supplied.

"Ouch, seriously? Hey, how do you know all this stuff?" Herry questioned.

"My mom's Greek. Listen, you guys go, I need to take a walk. I'll see you later." And with that he turned and walked away.

**A/N: K so thats the first chapter! **** you will get to no more about Selena later lol hope you liked it! It will follow the show (obviously), but Herry will be a little brighter lol **** Thanks so much! Reviews are encouraged! PLEASE! **


	2. Meeting Cronus

**A/N: Brownie Points to . . . **_**WhereDidYouGo**_** Hope you liked the first chapter here is the next! **

_**WhereDidYouGo: **_**Thanks so much! And don't worry I plan to continue it for as long as I can **

**Chapter 2: Meeting Cronus**

**Selena's POV**

Jay had been gone a long time and we were starting to get worried. But while he was out, we took the chance to grab some food and talk to Athena, the Goddess of war. She was surprisingly nice. As she handed us all plates, Herry nearly shouted, "Thanks! Looks great!" before digging in. I had to admit it looked like heaven considering what I had been eating lately.

"You're welcome," Athena replied. "I can see cooking for you two will keep me busy," looking pointedly at Herry and I. What can I say? I have a big appetite. "Would you like some toast?" I politely shook my head, as Herry said, "Yeah! Sure!"

"I thought you were a Goddess of war? I was expecting you to be mean, not making us breakfast." Atlanta said. As if on cue, Athena pulled out her sword. Atlanta and I both froze for a second before she brought it down, cutting a stack of toast in half.

"Don't be silly, I like to cook," she replied. She took half of the stack and put it on the flat side of her blade. "Toast?"

"No thanks," I said. She offered it to Atlanta.

"I'm good." She then dumped it on Herry's plate, knowing he would eat it.

"Did Jay say where he was going?" she asked. We all shook our heads. He better get back soon though, or we were going to have to go look for him.

We walked through the halls trying to come up with any idea of where Jay had gone when we saw him.

"Jay, you're here," I called out.

"No," he replied. "I'm out of here. You were right, Atlanta, this is just a crazy dream," he said looking at her. He walked away.

"What gives?" Atlanta asked, as Hera walked up to us. We ran after him.

We finally caught up to him on the street. That kid walks fast.

"What's going on, Jay?" Atlanta asked.

"You know," he said, "I found Cronus, looked him in the eye."

"Wow," Herry interrupted. "You're good, we just got here."

"And I was scared, Herry! Fighting him is insane! We're just kids! I can't do this."

"You have nothing to complain about, Jay," I said quietly. Everyone looked at me, but my gaze was focused on Jay's face.

"Really? I have the whole world's fate on my shoulders apparently. That's nothing to complain about?"

"No," I said. "I mean, it does suck, but come to me when you don't have a home, and when the only place you're actually wanted says that you're a direct descendent of a Titan, and that your destiny is to save the world. Come complain when, whenever you get mad or upset, the lights flicker, and things levitate, and you're psychic! Complain to me when you have an unnatural ability to see perfectly in the dark, but can't go out in sunlight without sunglasses, like some sort of vampire. Complain to me when you starve on the streets for a couple weeks, and your most decent meal half of a hotdog. When your life's that bad, then I'll hear you out. Right now, I don't want to hear you complaining. You've got a family that loves you and will actually be looking for you. Plus, the worst part about this is that you're a descendent of the great Jason. That's not a bad thing! I'm a descendent of a Titan and no one will tell me anything because, apparently, she was that bad! Not to mention, you're already a leader, Jay, whether you realize it or not. The fate of the world isn't just on your shoulders. You've got friends to help carry the burden. Come find me when you come back to reality." And with that I walked away. They would find me later.

I was only a couple blocks away when they found me. I was sitting in a cafe with a latte in hand. When I looked up, the three of them were there.

"I take it Herry and Atlanta talked some sense into you?"

Jay nodded.

"Cool," I got up. "Let's go."

"After you," Herry made a big sweeping motion with his arms.

"No, this way," Jay said. "There's something we need to check out." He started walking in the other direction. Atlanta, Herry, and I just looked at each other and shrugged as we followed him.

The four of us ended up at the port, why I don't know. "It looks like they're gone. We just need to find out if the Typhus is on that ship."

"Well, if what you told us is true, a huge fire breathing giant shouldn't be too hard to find," Atlanta said.

"No," I agreed. "It shouldn't. Come on, let's take a look." As I started to walk, Herry grabbed my arm.

"No, wait a second," he said, as he pulled me back. "If we find the huge fire breathing giant, what do we do?" He turned to Jay.

"Yeah," Atlanta said, "we don't exactly have any weapons."

"We've got Herry, he's a weapon," I supplied, earning myself a half glare/half smirk from Herry.

"Don't worry about it," Jay said seriously. "We'll just take a quick look. If it's here, we'll tell Hera and get some help."

"Looks like something already busted out of here. We might be too late guys," Atlanta said.

I walked over and looked down into the black abyss. Well, it wasn't really that black to me, but I couldn't see all the way down. The entire cage rattled. "Or not," I said.

"Ah, I see you've met my friend," a voice said, coming out of nowhere, it seemed. "But we haven't formerly met, have we, Jay?" A man stepped out of the shadows. He was relatively tall and had a sharp face structure, as well as a jagged scar across his cheek. He had a black go-T and his black hair was split through the middle with a strip of white, kind of like a skunk. "I wasn't sure you'd come back since you ran off so quickly earlier, but I'm glad you did. You see, I heard something about how you and your friends here were going to try and stop me and," he started chuckling, "well, I wanted to talk to you about that."

"I don't feel like talking," was Jay's response. "Not to you."

Cronus disregarded this comment. "Where are the others? I thought there was supposed to be eight heroes?"

"It's four against one," I called from my position on top of the metal trailers. "I like our odds."

"Yeah," Atlanta agreed, doing a back flip to land in front of the guys. "I'm good with that."

"Oh, I'm sure you're good," he said, letting out a really clichéd bad guy laugh, as four of his giant friends came out. "But I'm better," he finished.

One charged Atlanta, but she quickly hit him in the face and drilled the end of her wooden stick/pole into his foot.

Another charged at Jay, but he dodged his way up on top of the cage and ended up pushing it into the cage for the Typhus to eat.

One went for Herry, but he held his own.

As the last one came for me, I backed up as the trailer sagged under the weight of the giant. I drew back until it stood in the center of the trailer and the trailer groaned under the weight. "What's wrong, fatso, can't even handle a little girl?" I fake gasped, "What's the big bad boss going to say?" As the giant lunged the trailer gave way, and its leg was stuck halfway through the metal. I smirked as I jumped down in time to see both Atlanta and Herry thrown against the side of the cage where we knew the Typhus was kept. Both got up quickly and I ran over to help out.

"Guys," Atlanta called from her place climbing a rope, "I could use some help here!"

"Herry," Jay yelled, "the lock! Open up the hatch! Let that thing out of there!"

"You think they'll get out of the way if we ask them nicely?" I asked Herry as we shared a grin. He picked up the chain beside him as I went and dove between one giant's legs, effectively distracting it. The one giant came after me, as Herry lassoed the chain around the second and shoulder it over the edge and into the water. Meanwhile, I got to have a nice little fight with this one. Once I managed to knock him out, by pushing him back far enough to slam his head off the boat, he fell over the side. I ran to help Jay who was currently facing off with Cronus, but before I could get there, Herry let the Typhus out. As the fire spewed we all ran, oil cans blowing up everywhere. Jay and I were both thrown on our backs as I saw Herry and Atlanta get to a relatively safe spot. Once I reached them Herry said, "Fire breathing is one thing, but snakes for legs? What's that all about?" I nodded in agreement, I mean, come on, how much more difficult can you make it?

"Where's Jay?" Atlanta asked. It was a reasonable question. As she spoke, he ran toward us, one of the snake legs trying to bite him in the process.

"That thing is way too hot for us to handle," I said to him.

"Come on, we got to get off of here," he said as we all dove over the edge into the water. As we all surfaced, I didn't fell the least bit exhausted, despite what we had just done. Considering who I was a descendent of, I figured it had something to do with the moon being out and it was night-time and since the moon controls the tides and whatever. I really didn't want to get into the technical stuff.

As we looked up at the port, we all saw the Typhus spewing fire out of its head and its snake legs.

Perfect way to start off, don't you think?

**A/N: And so concludes the first episode. Hope you guys enjoyed it I will be posting the beginning of the second episode shortly . . . I hope **** PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**


	3. The Newbies

**A/N: I am SO SO SO SO SO sorry! But here is the first part of the next episode and I hope that makes up for it! SORRY! Brownie points too . . . **_**ViperGal, sassyprincess, **_**and**_** classofthetitans711.**_

_**WhereDidYouGo: **_**Thanks ****And sorry about that :p**

_**classofthetitans711**_**: Thank you! **

**Chapter 3: The Newbies**

When we all got up the next day, we were a bit tired and Jay was grumpy. Atlanta, Jay, and I were standing on the balcony in Olympus watching some guy train. He was one of us, and one of the four we still needed. And I must say, Atlanta was watching with interest.

"Who's he?" she asked Jay.

"His name's Archie," Jay replied.

"This is my favourite part," we heard Ares say. Next thing we knew, Archie was dodging laser beams and he landed in a crouch on one knee. A red diamond appeared around him on the floor and we heard a beep before three posts came up out of the ground, all bearing different weapons. And Archie handled it just fine. I have to say I was impressed. This guy definitely knew what he was doing. Ares looked up at Jay as Archie was kicking the posts and Jay turned his head away as if he were ashamed. I glared at Ares (I'm sure I would pay for it later). I nudged Jay with my shoulder. He turned and looked at me.

I leaned in and whispered, "Relax, you can do that, too. Plus, being a leader takes a lot more skill than that. Skill you have that he doesn't." He looked slightly reassured and I knew that my job was done. "I'm going to go see if I can find Hera," I announced.

And so I trekked my way through the humungous place, trying to find the Goddess. I ran into her in what I like to call 'the lobby'. "Hera!" I called.

"Well, hello Selena, what can I do for you?" she answered.

"Actually, I was kind of hoping I could talk to you more about my ancestor, Selene?" Hera looked apprehensive as I said this, but I continued. "I just want to know more about what I'm doing here. All I know is that I was descended from a Titan, and I don't even know anything about her. I just need something, anything that can tell me why I'm here."

She studied me, cocking her head to the side. "Come with me, child." She showed me to a room, where the constellations, planets, and moon phases all hung from the ceiling. It was beautiful. I stared in awe as I saw Hercules, Perseus, Orion, and all the other constellations hanging there, suspended by magic. But the thing that held my attention was the earth. It orbited around the sun just like the other planets, and the moon orbited around the earth, going through the phases just like it would in the night sky.

"This is amazing," I said, my voice little more than a whisper.

Hera smiled. "I thought you would like it. Selene created the moon phases because she always thought the same moon every night would get too boring." Hera laughed a little as she said this. "Selene was a very interesting Titan. She was passionate, nurturing, and she loved to help. If anyone, God or Titan had a problem, it was to Selene they turned. She always came up with a solution. She was also a great friend to all those who knew her. She was a beautiful woman, much like how the mortals depicted her. She was also strong, independent, and loving. Selene was not a woman you would want to cross, for she had a temper that could match Ares'. But she never held a grudge. She forgave people quickly and easily as long as they deserved it. She was a lot like you. I see more of her in you than you can possibly realize, Selena. When Cronus ruled, she was one of the few Titans that did not agree with him. She knew, however, that she could not cross him, but she always made sure that things never went too far when he ruled."

"Wow." I was shocked. "But if she was so good, then-when you were telling the others about their ancestry-why didn't you say anything-I mean, if I hadn't asked you-what I'm trying to say. . . well, why is it such a secret? I mean, why not say anything in front of the others? Why did I have to come to you?" I averted my eyes to the floor, realizing how rude I just sounded.

Hera just chuckled. "That, my dear, was because you shocked me." My head shot up. _Come again?_ "You look almost exactly like her, not to mention your expressions and the way you say some things. I don't think you realize it, but when I knew Selene. She was one of my greatest friends."

Ok, weird. Hera and Selene were friends? Well, then. Hmm. "Hera, I only have one more question. The moon is associated with magic, right? So is that where my . . . powers come from?"

"Well, partly yes. The moon is your source of power, so to speak. The energy your power uses comes from the moon's light. The powers themselves are inside of you. Tell me, what 'powers' have you discovered so far?"

"Umm . . . well, I can... feel the tides. I always know where they are without even thinking about it. The same with the phases of the moon. I can basically blend in with the night. And when I get upset or angry . . . the lights flicker sometimes, or things start to move," I took a deep breath and said the next part really fast. "And I'm psychic. . . .Well, only kind of."

"Well," Hera replied, "the tides, phases of the moon, and blending in with the night are just your connection to the moon. However, the lights flickering, telekinesis, and being psychic are not powers Selene had, however she was a witch, like many of the Titans and Goddesses. Now, what do you mean you are only 'kind of' psychic?"

"Well, it's hard to explain. It's not like I get visions or anything. It's only in my dreams, sometimes. It's like, if something really big is going to happen then I get flashes of different pictures in my head when I sleep."

Hera studied me while I said this, but all she had to say was, "Interesting."

It was silent for a moment. "Well, thank you for telling me more about her. I really appreciate it."

She smiled, "Don't worry, dear. You should go join your friends." I nodded, smiled, and left.

I was standing in the room with the big statue of Zeus _(the 'statue room')_ when I heard people coming. I thought I'd try out blending in with shadows and see if it worked.

As Archie stormed passed me, I was slightly confused, then Atlanta and Jay came running.

"Archie, hold up!" Jay called. Archie stopped and turned around. "Hi, I'm Jay. This is Atlanta."

"What I'm not important enough to get an introduction?" I asked sarcastically, as I stepped out of the shadows. Atlanta just laughed and rolled her eyes as Jay muttered, "How do you DO that?" I just smirked. "Anyways, I'm Selena," I told Archie.

Atlanta turned back to him. "Nice job back there. Looks like you passed the test."

"Yeah, well, just 'cause they think I'm a descendent of Achilles doesn't make it so," he replied with plenty of attitude.

"But doesn't that mean anything to you?" Jay questioned. "He was a great hero."

"Look at this place," I said. "Look at what you can do. How can you not believe?"

"Easy. I just walk away and forget this ever happened," he replied as he pushed passed me. I glared at his back.

"What's with him?" Atlanta asked.

"Don't know," I said, "but he needs to drop the attitude."

"Jay, Selena, Atlanta!" Hera called. "Could you some here please?"

We all looked at each other and shrugged. Who knew what Hera wanted? We walked over to her and followed her to the lobby. "I'd like you to meet Theresa and Odie."

Odie got up and walked over to Jay. "Hey."

"Hey," Jay replied, "glad you're here."

"Hi," Atlanta said to Theresa. I sent her a little wave.

"Hello," she responded timidly.

"So," I said, "you guys ready to save the world."

They both laughed and Theresa said, "Yeah, sure."

"Odie is a descendent of Odysseus," Hera told us. "He is very wily, very intelligent."

"Did you have to take a test?" Atlanta asked.

Odie shrugged. "Not really. I just had to set up Hermes with some upgrades to his communication network. It was a piece of cake."

"As a result, Hermes will—"

"You called Ms. Hera," Hermes interrupted her, bursting through the doors out of breath.

Hera sighed, "No. Must you burst in every time I mention your name?"

"Sorry," he replied. "When the queen of the Olympians says your name, what are you supposed to do?" He shrugged.

Hera just turned back to us. "Hermes here will be Odie's mentor. Theresa is a descendent of Theses. She has a natural sense of direction, as well as a sixth sense. A psychic ability." Hera looked at me when she said this.

Jay cleared his throat. "You can read minds?"

"Well, no," Theresa responded quickly. "Not really."

"Maybe one day. As for now, Persephone will help Theresa, as well as Selena, hone their skills." Theresa looked over at me questioningly. I just gave her a half smile. Persephone walked in and Hermes said, "Sorry, honey, false alarm."

Persephone stormed out. Literally. Like, there was lightening and everything. Lovely. I can tell she's just going to be a bundle of joy (note the sarcasm).

"Why don't you show Theresa and Odie to the dorm?" Hera suggested.

"Sure, let's go," I said, and we all walked out.

"This is cozy," Theresa said. She was standing looking around. Jay and Atlanta were leaning up against the wall, Odie was sitting on one couch, and I was sprawled on the other. "Ugh, what a day." Theresa had moved to look out the window.

"What happened?" Jay asked.

"I still can't believe it. Daddy had just given me a brand new car for my birthday. I went to drive around. All of a sudden, this giant bird flew from out of nowhere! Completely tore the hood of my car. I started running when it got attacked by a hippogriff. Hermes to the rescue."

"Ooo, happy birthday," Jay said, as he went to join her.

She let out a little chuckle, "Thanks."

"Ugh, I miss my car." I said. A thought crossed my mind. "I wonder where Cronus found that creature," I thought aloud. "I thought he only had the giants and the Typhus."

"Typhus? Giants?" Theresa said.

"Cronus ruined my wheels, too," Odie said.

"You saw him?" Atlanta asked.

"No," Odie replied gloomily. "I had a run in with this pig. Or rather, it had a run in with me. I was on my moped getting ready to leave when this huge boar came out of nowhere and tried to plough through me. Luckily I dodged out of the way in time. My moped wasn't so lucky. But before the boar could run me over, Hermes showed up with this weird stick thing and the boar just kind of deflated."

"So, Cronus knows who we are and how to find us," I said, looking at Jay.

"There's supposed to be eight of us. We're six now, we already met Archie, so I wonder where the other one is?" Jay said, inquired.

"Hera told us about Cronus," Theresa put in.

"Yeah," Odie said. "Sounds like he has serious control issues."

"Can we get back to that bit about the giants and the Typhus? Whatever that is," Theresa asked.

Atlanta stood up almost excitedly and said, "It's a giant fire-breathing lion with snakes for legs."

At Theresa's shocked look, I stood up. "Come on, you want a tour of the dorm?"

"Uh, sure," she said, her and Atlanta following me out.

As we got outside, Theresa started looking around. "Ok, so where are the cameras? This has got to be a reality TV show."

"This is for real," I told her.

"Yeah," Atlanta put in, "trust us. We've seen Cronus. You look into his eyes and there is nothing but evil there."

"I can't wait to meet him," Theresa said sarcastically. She paused for a second. "Uh, so, what's the deal with Jay. Either of you going out with him?"

Atlanta and I both looked at each other, quite surprised. "Uh, no," I said, "he's all yours." We all laughed a bit. Then we heard something.

"There's someone there," Theresa said. We all backed up against the wall.

"We'll attack first ask questions later. On three, ok?" Atlanta said.

"You mean when you say three or after you say two?" Theresa asked. I rolled my eyes. I mean, is it really that important.

"I mean, NOW!" Atlanta went to grab him but he dodged her and then grabbed Theresa's ankle as she tried to kick him, but he wasn't expecting a third so he had no defence ready as I sucker-punched him. I had to give him credit though, he recovered quickly. I dodged when he tried to grab me and planted a kick to his ribs, which knocked him down. He tried to get up, but Atlanta had recovered and knocked him back down on his stomach before she sat on him, pinning him down. Then the outside lights came on.

"Archie?" I said incredulously. Atlanta got off him right away.

"You know this guy?" Theresa asked.

"He's supposed to be one of us," I replied. I turned to him. "I thought you were leaving, why are you sneaking around?"

"I was checking the perimeter, making sure it's safe," he answered. And then all the lights went out.

"Well that's just lovely," my sarcastic voice rang through the night. I walked to the door. "Come on, we better find out what's up."

"I will admit my eye sight is better than most in the dark, but not all of us can see perfectly right now!" Atlanta called out.

"Right, sorry," I said. I walked over to Atlanta grabbed her hand, brought her to Theresa and made them hold hands, and then grabbed Archie's hand as I walked passed and dragged them inside. Once we were inside, the glow from the TV shown through the whole house, and all of us dropped hands. We walked into the living room. "What's going on, guys?"

Herry answered, "Well, we found the Typhus."

"Perfect," was my response. And we walked back to Olympus.

We were all with Ares down in the weapons room. The room was well lit, and the weapons slid out from a tube. My jaw dropped. I was completely speechless. I vaguely heard Odie ask, "You have power here?" and Ares answer, "You could say this place is off the grid."

I turned to Ares. "Holy crap, this is impressive." He just smirked at me. I rolled my eyes. Arrogant God.

Ares turned to Jay and gave him what looked like the hilt of a sword. As Jay took it, the blade sprang out. "It's a gravitational blade."

"Nice," Jay replied.

Theresa picked up nunchucks and started playing around with them. "Hmm, these are cute."

"And deadly," I added, watching her.

"Where'd you learn to use those?" Atlanta asked.

"I was a black belt when I was 12," Theresa said. "While all the other rich girls were bored, I was restless." I nodded and started walking around, trying to decide which weapon to choose.

"Odie," Ares asked, "would you like a weapon?"

"Uh, no, I'm good," was his reply. "Hermes gave me my weapon already." He held up a laptop. "Satellite connection, the works. Portable and powerful."

Atlanta was swinging around some steel bolas and they flew of her finger and took the nose off one of the statues. I tried to hold back a laugh that ended coming out as a snort. She sent a playful glare my way. "Now we're talking! Can I have these?" she asked Ares eagerly.

"All the weapons here are at your disposal. But the statues are mine!" Atlanta ducked her head and walked away. I was trying really really REALLY hard not to laugh.

"So how do we beat the Typhus?" Herry asked.

"Beat it back with lightning bolts, then drop a mountain on its head." Well crap, we're screwed.

"Yeah, OK," was Herry's reply.

"That's how Zeus defeated it. You kids may have to think of another strategy." And that's when I found my weapons. There was a dagger just small enough to be concealed when I put it in my converse and two rings that turned into swords. They both fit perfectly on my middle finger. I took them and swung them around a couple times.

"Perfect," I smiled.

"You're pretty good with those," Herry said.

My smile turned sad as I remembered why I was so good with them. "Yeah, I learned how to use them a long time ago." He smiled back at me and I felt my stomach jump and my face brighten just a bit. We went and sat on the steps. "Oh, come on, Archie. Don't look so glum. We are about to go fight a giant fire breathing lion with snakes for legs. At least be a little excited," I teased him.

He looked up at me. "Yes, because going to almost possible certain death just screams fun," he replied sarcastically.

I smiled, "Exactly! That's the spirit!"

He just smiled and rolled his eyes. "So what's with the fancy footwear?" Theresa questioned.

He looked down at the brace on his ankle. "I've got a wonky heel."

"Kind of like Achilles," I smirked. He just sent me a look. I could practically feel Herry trying not to laugh throughout our conversation.

"Sorry about what happened earlier," she said, referring to the three of us attacking him.

"No worries," he replied easily.

"Really?" I smirked. "How's your ribs?" I got another glare as he tried to hide his smile. Herry just shook his head as he smiled.

"Are we done here guys?" Odie called to us. "It looks like the electricity is out along the whole sea board. And all the power's being transferred to the station where your fire-breathing friend was last seen."

"Well, if the Typhus is there, so is Cronus," Jay said.

"Let's take my truck," Herry said.

**A/N: I'm so so so so so sorry, but my life is beyond crazy right now. I swear I don't even have time to breathe anymore. Please tell me what you think and I will try to get part 2 up wither tonight or tomorrow.**


	4. Bye Bye Typhus

**A/N: OK, so here is part 2 hope you guys enjoy **

**Chapter 4: Bye Bye Typhus**

Theresa, Atlanta, Herry, Jay, Odie, and I were all in Herry's truck and ready to go when Archie said, "Hey guys, is there any room in there for me?"

Jay replied, "Of course. Jump in." I smiled and patted the empty seat next to me. He sat down and buckled up.

"There's room enough in here for a football team," Odie commented.

"So are you going to be a part of our team?" Atlanta asked quietly.

"Yeah," Archie replied, smiling at her. "I thought I might tag along."

"So your Granny just gave you this truck?" I asked Herry.

"Yeah," he replied, "she can't drive it anymore."

"I have got to meet you Granny," I said, in complete awe. And then we were off. The ride was pretty silent except for a few comments here and there. I think the reality of what we were about to try and accomplish kind of hit us all at once.

Once we got to the plant, we saw a truck wrecked on the side of the road. "Looks like whoever was in that truck got out of there in time," Theresa said.

"The doors are open. They must have escaped into the woods," Jay pointed out.

"Should we try and find them?" Theresa asked him.

"No time," he replied. "We have to look for Cronus. It will be better if we split up. Herry, Odie, Atlanta, Selena, check out the dam. Theresa, Archie, and I will search the area."

"These PMR's will keep us connected," Odie said, tossing us all something blue that looked like a cross between a cell phone and a walkie-talkie.

"PMR?" Herry asked. "It looks like a walkie-talkie."

"It's a little bit more than just a walkie-talkie," Odie shot back.

We all did a little test run with our weapons. "Ready?" Atlanta said.

"To battle a giant monster, take on an immortal God and save the world?" Archie asked.

There was a pause. "Hell yeah!" I said.

"Alright, let's go!" Jay called. And we all dispersed.

Odie, Herry, Atlanta, and I were walking, keeping our guard up, and then we saw it. The Typhus. (Cue scary music).

"Jay!" Odie called into his PMR.

There was a pause, then, "Odie!" we heard Jay call back.

"Let me guess," he said. "A butt ugly monster straight out of the bowels of history is headed our way."

"Good guess," Jay said.

Then we saw it. And we ran. And it spewed fire at us. And Atlanta's only comment was, "Ugh, that's some bad breath." She took out her bolas and flung them at the Typhus. They hit it around the neck, and it roared

It came charging at us again. "What's our plan of attack?" Odie asked.

"Maybe we should—RUN!" Herry started to reply, until fire was spewed at us again. But Odie wasn't fast enough, he didn't run in time. The force of the fire pushed him over the edge.

"Odie!" I cried as I saw him fall. I ran to the railing, but when we looked down into the water, we saw him fall down the waterfall. "Odie!" we called. Then the Typhus brought us back.

The two snake legs were on either side of Herry, waiting to attack. When they did, Herry jumped and they ended up running into each other.

"Come on, we've got to move!" he said, grabbing Atlanta and I and pulling us along with him.

"Hurry up!" Atlanta called.

"Sorry we don't all have super-human speed!" I called back. Theresa, Jay, Archie, Herry, and I all reached the truck at the same time. Atlanta was already there.

"Where's Odie?" Jay asked.

"Get in," was Herry's reply as he started the truck. And we all got in (and put our seatbelts on, safety first and all . . . as we were about to fight a giant fire-breathing monster). Then Herry drove like mad with the Typhus spewing fire at us the whole way.

"What happened to Odie?" Jay asked again.

"He went over the other side of the dam," Atlanta said.

"No!" Theresa cried.

"What?" Jay said.

"There was nothing we could do," Herry told them. _There was nothing we could do . . . _the words echoed in my head as I remembered the day I last heard them. _No, stop thinking about it!_

"Did we lose it?" Archie's question brought me back to reality.

"No, it just stopped following us," Herry told him.

"It must be guarding something back there," I said.

"Herry, turn the truck around we're going back," Jay told him.

"But Jay, we can't beat that thing," Theresa said.

"We have to save Odie," Jay told her.

"Are you always so pessimistic?" I asked Theresa. "We are going to go back there, save Odie, and kick butt!"

All of a sudden we heard Odie's voice from our PMR's. "Hello? Jay? Anybody?"

"Odie! Are you OK? Where are you?"

"I'm OK. I'm on the other side of the river. And I'm looking up at Cronus."

"Are you serious?" Jay asked incredulously.

"You tell me," Odie said. "Is that him?" A very definitive picture of Cronus showed up on everyone's PMR screen.

"That's him," Jay replied.

"What is that thing?" I asked. "It looks like a laser."

"That's exactly what it is," Odie told us. "And it's the biggest one I've ever seen. Cronus must be diverting all the power to it."

"Odie, stay where you are. We'll get you after we stop Cronus," Jay told him.

"Jay, there's only one way across the dam from here," Theresa told him.

"And there's a little something in our way," Herry finished.

"You're right," Jay said looking at Herry, "we should run away." Herry looked over at him, smiled, and pushed his foot to the gas.

"Did I miss something?" Theresa said.

"Guy speak," I explained. She just nodded her head.

"So, you ladies coming with me?" Archie asked Atlanta and me.

"What?" she said.

"We can't fight Cronus and that thing at the same time," Archie explained. "We need to distract it."

"Herry, stop the truck," I told him. The three of us got out, only to be blown off our feet by a ball of fire.

"You know," I commented, "that's getting really annoying."

"So what's the plan?" Atlanta asked once we were hiding behind a rock near Cronus, waiting for the Typhus to find us.

"Ares was wrong—" Archie started.

"My three new favourite words," I interrupted. Archie smirked at me before continuing.

"We can bring it down with lightning bolts." I shot him an _Are-you-an-idiot_ look.

"Oh yeah," Atlanta replied sarcastically. She patted her pockets. "I'm fresh out of lightning bolts."

"Wait until he gets closer," Archie told us, as we watched the Typhus fly our way.

"Uh, he looks pretty close to me," I said.

"I heard your fast," Archie said to Atlanta.

"Very," she replied.

"We need to split its focus," Archie informed us.

"I call the head," I said.

"Ok," he said, "Atlanta, you go on the other side of it." We both ran.

"Me? Why me?" She asked.

"'Cause I'm kind of busy over here," Archie grunted as he wrapped is whip around one snake leg and tied it to the giant cord.

"Same here!" I called as I started dodging fire balls. "HEY! WATCH IT!" I yelled, as one nearly burnt my shoe.

Atlanta ran around to my side, effectively distracting the other snake leg. We had its focus split in three, just in time.

Cronus fired the laser and it electrocuted the Typhus. It landed in the water. As Archie, Atlanta, and I watched it crash, I waved cheerfully. "Bye bye, Typhus."

A bright blue ring showed up in the sky and I didn't like it. We ran to the others

"Too late, Jay," Cronus told him.

"What have you done?" he replied, taking out his sword.

"I'm the least of your worries now," Cronus said, gesturing to the sky.

"What is that?" Theresa said.

Cronus sighed. "It's beautiful isn't it?" and then he was gone along with his giants.

"Well, this can't be good," Herry said as we all stood on the cliff top looking up at the ring.

That night, everyone went to bed, but I stayed up on the roof, looking up at the moon. I was in my pyjama pants and a tank top, but I wasn't cold. My mind was off somewhere else. Looking up at the moon, the only thing I could think was _It shouldn't be there_.

"What shouldn't be where?" I whirled around at the sound of Herry's voice, not realizing he was here, or that I had said that out loud.

"Herry, hey. You scared me," I told him quietly.

"Sorry," he said. "I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd come up here and look at the stars. So, what shouldn't be where?"

I hesitated for a second. "The moon. It shouldn't be so far west."

"Wow. You weren't kidding when you said you always knew where the moon was."

I smiled at him a little bit. "Yeah, it's a gift and a curse."

"Why a curse?" he asked, cocking his head to the side like a curious puppy.

"Grade 9 science," I said. "We were doing astronomy, and everyone was arguing over the phases of the moon and which phase it would be in that night. I accidently let my little secret slip. Not my favourite day."

"Harsh," Herry said. "So is that the reason you can't sleep?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I guess that's part of it."

He sat down on the edge of the roof and patted a spot next to him. I sat down. "Tell me," he said.

And I did. I don't know why I decided to spill my worries to him, but I did. "Well, something feels off. It's not just the moon either. It's like everything's shifted. The tides are off, the stars, the moon, all that stuff. And I feel restless, like I should know what's wrong and I should know how to fix it, but I have absolutely no idea and it's killing me. I feel so helpless, and I'm so used to doing everything I can that not being able to do something is making me crazy. I always believe there is something you can do or could've done because you can always change something to make it better and if I don't have that philosophy, that changes my whole life." I was starting to ramble, thinking about my past, but I couldn't stop.

Then Herry did possibly the only thing that could make this better. He hugged me. At first I was kind of surprised, but I felt so safe and comfortable that I relaxed into the hug and hugged him back. It was so peaceful and quiet; it felt like nothing could touch us up here.

Of course, I didn't fail to notice the butterflies in my stomach.

We were all standing on the roof the next day. Odie, Archie, and Atlanta were playing around with the PMR's, and Jay and Theresa were looking up at the sky talking. I looked over at Jay and Theresa. Jay had that look on his face. You know, the _I-should've-done-something-this-is-all-my-fault _look.

Theresa managed to talk him out of it though. I had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time she managed to make him feel better. ;)

Herry and I were sitting in the same spot we sat in last night. I was really antsy and uneasy. I didn't quite know what it was yet, but I knew something was wrong and I was restless. Every once and a while I would get up to walk around. I had just sat down again and my leg was bouncing up and down. Herry put his hand on my leg to stop it. I blushed. "Sorry."

He laughed, "Relax a little bit. Whatever's wrong, we'll figure it out. You don't have to do everything by yourself. You've got all of us now, remember?" he said throwing his arm around my shoulders.

I smiled and leaned into him. "Yeah, we're family."

**A/N: 2 chapters in one night! I'm quite proud of myself lol :p ****Hope you enjoyed and feedback is much appreciated.**


	5. The Past Sucks

**A/N: Hey everybody! Here is the third episode of the season! This is the whole episode in one chapter instead of in two part! Let me know whether you like it this way or split up! Hope you enjoy! P.s. I named the giants in this one cuz it got kinda confusing :p It made it easier for me to read, but let me know if it was still confusing and I will change it.**

_**classofthetitans711: **_**Of course! And thank you so much! ** **3**

_**HoneyGoddess57: **_**Thanks ** ** and I've read some of your stories too! They are awesome! **

**Chapter 5: The Past Sucks**

We all sat around Odie's computer as we listened to the guy news anchor talk. "Our top story tonight, those stunning rings around our planet." The screen promptly went static and then switched between stations, voicing people's opinions, "They're beautiful!" and "It's bad luck I tell ye!"

"The rings are causing interference with the radio and satellite signals all over the world," Odie explained.

"A pain in the planet's butt, Odie," Theresa said, "but not exactly doomsday."

"That's the only thing that you realize in everyday life. The whole planet's off. Things are shifting and it just doesn't feel right," I contradicted her, suppressing a shudder.

"Exactly," Odie nodded at me, "so here's the kicker. According to the atomic clock, sunrise was 1.35 seconds late this morning."

"What?" Jay exclaimed. "The rings are affecting time?"

"Not just that, Jay," Odie told him. "Watch." Odie pushed a button on the keyboard and we all watched the simulation intently as he explained. "The rings are spinning counter to the earth, slowing the planet's rotation. The atmospheric disturbance will cause earthquakes, hurricanes, global disaster!"

"Okay," Archie said slowly, "so what's the bad news?"

"I was getting to that." Odie pushed a couple more buttons. "If the earth's rotation suddenly stops, everything will shift on the surface of the earth due to the conservation of momentum." We all gasped suddenly as a giant tidal wave completely obliterated a city on the screen.

I turned to Archie. "You just had to ask." He glared at me. And with that we were off to find Hera.

"Cronus caught us by surprise but I am aware of the danger. And remember what The Oracle said. Eight young heroes would stand in his way," Hera told us once we gave her the rundown of the situation.

"But there is still only seven of us," Jay said defiantly. "Cronus is about to tear the world apart at the seams and I don't think he's going to wait for all of us to show up for school!"

"Neither will we," Hera answered back calmly. "Since Neil hasn't arrived on his own, you'll have to go and find him."

"Will one more make that much difference?" Theresa asked. "Is Neil some kind of invincible warrior?"

"Oh that'd be lucky," I said, hoping, but doubting it.

"Hmmm, not exactly," was Hera's reply. "But Neil does have qualities that are," she paused, seeming to look for the right word, "unique. And he will make you eight. But, as you said, Jay, you don't have much time to find him. Start with his mentor, Ms. Aphrodite."

"Oh, no," I blanched. "You've got to be kidding."

"The Goddess of love and beauty?" Atlanta asked.

"The one and only," I answered dryly.

"What kind of warrior are we looking for?" Archie said incredulously. No one had an answer.

Odie, Herry, and I ended up trying to figure out what exactly we were going to do about those rings because I absolutely REFUSED to visit Aphrodite again. Just the thought made me shudder. We got the info we needed, but I'm assuming the guys were a little . . . awe-struck by her beauty because Theresa and Atlanta looked a little ticked off.

We all piled into Theresa's convertible since someone had stolen Herry's truck (which he was insanely furious about) and it was a tight squeeze.

"Oh my gods, I can't breathe," I said, squished between Herry and Archie.

"Next time your daddy buys you a new car, Theresa, could you ask him for something a little roomier," Atlanta said.

"We could've used my truck, but someone stole it," Herry said bitterly.

"There he is!" Jay pointed out suddenly. "That's The Oracle." Theresa pulled over to the side of the road. We all piled out. I felt like we were in one of those clown cars.

"Ah, I knew sooner or later you would come to see me," The Oracle said as we got closer. He was an old bald man sitting on a stool.

"That's a rather promising sign for an Oracle," I said, just a tad sarcastically.

He chuckled, "That's true." He seemed to stare at me for a moment or two before cocking his head to the side. "Come here, child." I walked forward slowly, feeling everyone's eyes on me. When I got close enough he reached out and grasped my hand, jerking me forward. I gasped at what I saw. It was as if I was reliving the memories I had tried so hard to suppress in my mind.

_It was a nice autumn day and it seemed like the picturesque scene. A lovely, wealthy couple and their son and daughter, age 9 and 7, out for a walk in the park. The children seemed to get along great, but seemed polar opposite in looks. While their daughter seemed to be night incarnate, their son looked like a white knight with pale blonde hair, pale skin, and light grey eyes. All of a sudden their daughter came rushing over. "Daddy! Natey's being mean!" she cried, as her bottom lip trembled. Her father scooped her up in his arms._

"_Don't cry," he told her gently, "be strong. You are a beautiful little girl and no matter what your brother does, he loves you."_

_The same family a few years later, the boy around 13 and the girl about 11, in an old cottage it seemed. As the boy chased the girl around the yard, close to the river, their mother called out, "Be careful! Don't slip and fall into the lake!" As she uttered the word, the girl fell, getting soaked. "Selena!" her mother cried out as her father rushed to get her. But the boy got there first, scooping her up in his arms._

"_Don't cry, little sister," he told her. "I'm sure it didn't hurt badly, and you're always the strong one. Shh, shh, it's ok." He rocked her gently back and forth as her sobs stopped._

"_Thank you, Natey," she whispered into his shirt._

"_Don't worry, little sister, I love you and I will always be here for you."_

_This time it was just the boy and the girl out on the dock at the same cottage. They appeared to be 16 and 14 in this scene, although that very day was the girl's birthday. They were pushing each other around, laughing and having a good time. The boy pushed the girl roughly and she almost lost her balance, catching herself just in time so as not to fall into the water. She glared jokingly at the boy and he just threw his head back and laughed. She pushed him back just as hard, catching him by surprise and laughing good naturedly as he fell off the dock. After a moment he did not come up from the water. She stopped laughing. "Nate? Come on, Nathan, this isn't funny. . ." She paused again, waiting. "Natey?" she whispered. "NATEY!" She dove in after him, trying to see where he had gone. She saw him lying at the bottom of the river. She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the surface. She pulled him up onto the dock, trying to shake him as tears ran down her face. She called out to her parents in a panic and they came rushing down. She couldn't remember much, just sirens, an ambulance, someone asking her questions. Then a hospital. People coming to and fro, always saying the same thing when they saw her face. "There was nothing you could've done." "Be strong, he wouldn't want you to cry." "Don't torture yourself, you couldn't have done anything." The funeral came and as she stood there, looking at the freshly covered grave, crying, she swore she heard the voice in the wind, _Don't cry, little sister, you're always the strong one. Don't worry, I will always be here for you, no matter where my body is. Never forget me and I will help you stay true to who you are. I'm in a better place, as cliché as that sounds. And don't you ever, ever forget, I love you. _Her tears stopped as she heard the words that had been spoken to her so many times before. She took a deep breath and lifted her chin, wiping the remaining tears from her face. She never cried after that day, determined not to show weakness. That was the last time she visited his grave. Her parents rarely spoke to her after that. They could barely stand to look at her anymore._

_It was her sixteenth birthday. She got a car from her parents, though they said nothing to her that day. She could barely even look at herself in the mirror on this day. It had been exactly two years. She packed her duffel bag, throwing it in the trunk of the car before telling her dad she was taking it out for a test drive. She never saw her parents after that day. And no one ever knew she had run away. Her parents never reported it. She knew they wouldn't care. _

All of a sudden I was back in the present, looking at The Oracle's pale, wrinkling face. He dropped my hand and I took a step backwards, a shiver running down my spine. I realized I was crying. Something that I never did anymore; something I hadn't done for over two years. I wiped the tears and controlled my emotions before anyone would notice, something I had perfected. As I took another step away from The Oracle, I felt a hand on my back and I looked up to see Herry looking at me with concern. So he had seen my face. That meant possibly an explanation later, something I would not look forward to.

"Listen," Jay interjected, "can you tell us where to find Neil?"

The Oracle merely looked pointedly at a passing bus and we all saw a picture of a good-looking guy, in just jeans with a six pack.

"That's Neil," Herry said incredulously. "He's a model?"

"Are you freaking kidding me?" I said blankly. "I mean, really!"

"Hey," Archie said, and I looked over, quite surprised Archie was going to defend him, "maybe he's a SUPER-model!"

Herry chuckled as I snorted out a laugh. "With super powers, like stunning good looks, or a killer smile," Atlanta added, causing Herry and I to double over in laughter, me grabbing onto Herry's shoulder to keep myself upright as Jay and Theresa chuckled.

"So do you have any difficult questions that you might actually need an Oracle for?" The Oracle asked, ending our laugh-fest.

"Yes," Theresa said seriously, stepping forward. "Where is Neil?" The Oracle grabbed her hand, just as he had mine.

"You don't need me to find him. The ability is within you," he answered cryptically. When he let go of her hand, she staggered backwards (conveniently into Jay's arms). "But, if you must know where he is this minute," he said to all of us, "try the train yard."

And that's how we ended up crammed back into Theresa's car, three in the front, three in the back, on our way to the train yard.

As we pulled into the train yard, jumping out of the car, we saw Cronus chumming up to Neil.

"Cronus," Jay stated (obviously).

"And there's Neil," Theresa said, adding to the obviousness.

"Yes, we know you two, we all have eyes," I said, tired of the obvious being stated.

"I thought this was a closed set," Neil said, obviously irritated. "Well, I've got to make time for fans that are that dedicated." He started checking himself in the mirror. Cronus moved behind him, placing his hands on Neil's shoulders.

"Let my body guards take care of them," he told Neil, "we have more important things to do." He grabbed Neil and dragged him away, causing Neil to drop his mirror.

Jay immediately rushed forward, only to be stopped as a giant stepped in his way. Jay drew his sword to fight him but the giant picked him up and threw him like he weighed nothing. Jay was knocked unconscious as he hit the train tracks.

Two more giants came then, and Herry threw a metal barrel at the red giant (Redgy). Unfortunately, Redgy caught it easily and threw it right back. Herry, Theresa, and I ducked out of the way.

"Tell you what," I smirked and said to Herry as the three of us were on the ground, "let's not play catch with this guy."

He just smiled a little sheepishly, as I smiled and rolled my eyes.

Meanwhile, one of the other giants, the brownish one (Agnon), sent a railway platform hurtling along the tracks at Jay. I heard Atlanta yell, "Jay, watch out!" as she raced toward him. She got to him, just in time to drag him out of the way.

Archie, however, was facing his own giant, the white one that looked like its bottom half belonged to a polar bear (Arctic). "You're too big to play with trains," he mocked, causing Arctic to swing a fist down at him. Archie flipped neatly out of the way. Herry and I were holding our own against Redgy, and Theresa, Jay, and Atlanta managed to knock Bruno out by running him into a train car.

"Not bad," Herry remarked to Theresa and I. "If only we had a whole train."

Theresa looked around as we heard a train whistle. "One train coming up. Get the giants to the middle of the roundhouse," and she ran off.

Herry was about to call after her, but seemed to think better of it and resigned to saying a sarcastic, "Right, sure. No problem."

I laughed. "Come on, we've got work to do."

Archie was still fighting Arctic. Arctic swung his fists down again, but Archie hopped up onto his shoulders. The giant stood up, trying to buck him off. Archie took out his whip and steered Arctic to the roundhouse.

"Ride 'em, cowboy!" I shouted, laughing. Jay, Atlanta, Herry, and I jumped out of the way, just in time for Archie to run Arctic into Redgy, the two of them landing on top of Agnon. And just in time, too, as the train rammed into them. We all just kind of looked at it for a minute. Theresa looked a little worried, but Herry turned to her and smiled, clearly impressed, "Nice train wreck, Theresa." Theresa smiled back.

"Great work, guys," Jay said. He paused for a sec, looking around. "Where's Cronus? Where's Neil?"

I walked over and picked up Neil's mirror. "A mirror?" came Archie's incredulous voice. "Are you sure Neil is the hero type?"

"He's one of us, Archie," was Jay's answer. "And if we're going to stop Cronus from destroying the planet, we'll need all the help we can get."

Jay, Herry, and I walked into Hephaestus' lair, seeing him holding a well-cooked ham with Hermes beside him and Odie pacing.

"Herry, Jay, Selena!" the two Gods chorused. Hermes rushed over, throwing his arms around Herry and I, "Good to see you! Any exciting developments on your end?" he asked Jay.

"We found Neil," Herry responded.

"Then promptly lost him again," I finished a little dejectedly.

"What about you?" Jay asked.

"The three of us were just brainstorming," Odie explained.

"But, we haven't even had a drizzle yet," Hermes said.

"And to top it off," Herry added, angrily crossing his arms, "I lost my truck! When I find out who took it," he threatened.

"Oh, that was me," Hephaestus piped up. I wondered if he had a death wish. No one, I repeat, no one touched Herry's truck without his permission, not even me.

"You!" Herry said incredulously.

"I made a few modifications for ya," the god said as he opened the garage. "Enjoy."

"Holy mother of pearl," was my awed response. It looked like a whole new truck. A whole new, amazingly gorgeous, tricked out, awesome, beautiful truck. "Those are some nice modifications."

"You . . . customized it? Alright!" Herry responded.

"Herry," I begged, "Can I drive it?" He shook his head. "Please?" Another head shake. "C'mon pretty pretty please?" Apparently it wasn't happening. "Fine," I grumpily gave-up.

"Enjoy it while you can," Jay said almost bitterly. "We haven't got much time; unless Heph has Neil behind one of those doors."

Herry and I spent the rest of the time checking out his truck to see just exactly what modifications Hephaestus had done. And holy crap he completely tricked out Herry's truck! The inside was all redone with black leather seats, the dash had been completely redone, the lighting and even the carpets and floor mats. What impressed me the most was the audio system. Sub woofers, Boze speakers, and ipod jack, the works. New headlights, bumper and fender, even four LED lights on top, all wheel drive, 4-wheel drive, shocks, suspension, tires; everything. And, damn it was nice. Don't get me wrong, I'd loved my little convertible, but damn I loved this truck!

"Oh my Gods, Herry. This truck. . . it's just . . . I mean . . . look at the grill . . and just . . . there are no words right now."

Herry, of course, laughed at me. "Hop in the front." I got into the passenger side and he started it up. Both of us sighed as we heard the gorgeous purr of a perfectly tuned engine.

That's where we were when Jay, Theresa and the rest of the gang (minus Odie) came in.

"We know where to find Neil, and we need a ride, while Odie figures out the ring problem. Think you can give us a lift, Herry?" Jay asked, cocking and eyebrow and smiling as they strolled in.

"I think I can fit everyone, now that I have my truck back!" Herry replied, a huge smile on his face. I rolled my eyes. They were such guys.

And so we all piled in Herry's sweetly tricked out truck, off to find Neil.

We jumped out of Herry's newly pimped out awesome truck. "You're sure this is the place?" Jay asked Theresa.

"Well, it makes sense anyway with all the people screaming and running in the opposite direction," I pointed out.

"Yes, they're on the roof," Theresa answered him, completely ignoring me.

"It's cool, guys, let's just ignore Selena's logic," I said sarcastically. Herry rolled his eyes at me as I grinned. "What can I say, I don't like being ignored."

Herry shook his head, chuckling, "Well, you do always have something to say."

I nodded, smiling, "True."

We made our way through the building, taking the elevator because majority of us refused to walk up the stairs (Atlanta had no problem doing that, but frankly there were at least 30 flights . . . not going to happen).

We walked in and I looked out the floor length windows to see Neil staring at his reflection in a pool. "Wow," I said, completely astonished, "this guy just can't get enough of himself. And I fail to see the attraction." Theresa and Atlanta nodded in agreement, while the guys really couldn't have cared less.

"How so, Selena?" Cronus's voice came from behind us and we all whipped around, weapons drawn. "He attracted all of you, didn't he? There are only seven of you, Jay, the odds are still in my favour."

Oh, how I hated talking. I had a weapon in my hand for a reason, so of course the only thing I said before charging him was, "Oh please, odds have nothing to do with it." And so our battle ensued, with a minor earthquake following. Cronus was good though. He was a Titan and clearly had battle training and he threw us around like rag-dolls, but every time one of us fell, we were back up in a flash.

As Cronus threw Theresa half way across the roof, Archie sliced Cronus's ear off with his whip. He staggered away, gripping the side of his head. "It seems our little pool party has gotten out of hand," he said to us. We watched in horror as his ear grew back before our very eyes.

"Oh that's just not fair," I called out.

"Life's not fair," was Cronus's snappy comeback. "At least, for you."

Neil tapped Cronus on the shoulder, "Hey, man, what the heck is going on?" Taking advantage of the distraction, Atlanta whipped her bolas at Cronus, making him slip on the water and fall over the edge of the roof.

"Nice job, Neil!" Jay congratulated him.

"Yeah," Herry said, "to be honest, we had our doubts about you."

"Are you guys crazy?" Neil yelled. "You just killed my agent!"

We all looked over the side to see Cronus climbing the wall quickly. "Of course it can't be that easy!" I yelled to the sky.

"Let's get out of here quick!" Jay said and we all turned and ran to Herry's amazingly customized truck.

The eight of us (minus Odie) walked into the school. When we got to the janitors closet Jay said, "Ok, Neil, this is the secret entrance where the immortal gods of Olympus live now."

Neil laughed, "A janitor's closet? Oh, you guys just won't quit." Jay pulled out his necklace. "Hey, cool! I've got a pendant just like that."

"We all do," the rest of us chorused, pulling out ours.

"It means you're one of us," Theresa told him.

"Use it to open the door," I told him.

"Ok," Neil said sarcastically, "Here I am, using my secret pendant key." He put the pendant against the door and let out a startled, "Huh?" as the door opened and Jay pushed him in, the rest of us following. Theresa closed the door as Herry turned on the light, revealing the blue portal to Olympus. "Ok, talk to me," Neil said. I nearly laughed at his expression. So, we explained everything to him.

Jay thought it was crucial to take Neil to see his mentor right away. Aphrodite, oh joy, my spirit soared (-_- please note the EXTREME sarcasm).

"Neil! You look wonderful, darling," the goddess squealed as we entered.

"I know, thanks," came the conceited response as they hugged.

Hera came over to us. "Ah, you've found the last hero. All eight together at last. Except for Odie."

"I'll call him," Jay said, pulling out his PMR.

I turned to Herry. "Five bucks says Odie's found a deadline ."

"Nah, he found a way to stop all this." I raised an eyebrow and stuck my hand out. He shook it saying, "You're on."

"Odie, any progress on your end?" Jay said.

"Progress? Yeah, Jay," Odie replied. "I've been running some more calculations. Unless we do something soon the world's going to rip apart in less than 24 hours."

I smirked at Herry. He just rolled his eyes and handed me a five.

"What about Neil? Did you bring him back?" Odie continued.

"Well, uh, yes," Jay replied. "But I'm not sure he's the answer we were looking for. See for yourself."

"Ugh, Can you tell him that his reflection—" Odie stopped. "His reflection is brilliant! Jay, he is the answer!"

I growled and handed Herry his five back.

"Huh?" was Jay's genius retort.

We rushed outside, pausing once we saw the utter chaos of the city. "Really, people?" I yelled. "What part of 'Stay calm' doesn't make sense?" I was trying to stay calm myself. The moons off position was making me antsier by the minute.

"The streets are jammed," Jay stated. "I don't think driving on the sidewalk will help us now."

"Don't worry," Herry said, more to me than anyone. "I've got four wheels and I plan on using all of them."

"You sure you don't want me to drive?" I piped up. He just shot me a look. I will drive that truck one day.

Herry, Atlanta, Jay, and I all hopped in the front with Theresa, Archie, Neil, and Odie in the back.

"So where are we headed, Odie?" Herry asked as we started driving.

"You mind," Odie muttered, shoving Neil's arm off his shoulder. "Golden Valley," he answered Herry.

"I'll get us there," Herry answered confidently

"What's in Golden Valley?" I asked, confused.

"A solar array," he said. "One of the biggest thermal solar concentrated systems in the world. Look, the plan is simple. The rings are made up mostly of ice. The array collects and concentrates the suns energy. If we can reflect the energy back into space and focus it on the rings we can melt them."

"Thanks goodness we have you to come up with stuff like that," I said, relieved I didn't have to think that up.

"Thank Neil," Odie corrected.

"Neil?" came Archie's incredulous voice.

"I'm an inspiration to all who know me," was Neil's conceited reply.

Theresa, Atlanta, and I groaned.

"Step on it, Herry," Odie demanded. "We're running out of time!"

"Something weird is coming up behind us," I warned Herry.

Herry swerved through it's legs as it jumped in front of us. It looked like some weird mutant ant eater/spider hybrid. Creepy as hell.

"Herry, stop the truck," Jay told him.

"Are you nuts?" Herry replied.

"Just long enough for some of us to jump out and keep Cronus busy," Jay sad. "You take Odie to the array. Everybody else out. Including Neil."

"Neil?" Archie asked. "What do you want Neil for?"

"Yeah, what do you want Neil for?" Neil repeated, scared.

"Because you're lucky," Jay replied.

"And right about now we need all the luck we can get," I said.

The truck stopped and we all hopped out.

"Be careful," I told Herry.

"You, too," he said.

"Always," I replied, before shutting the door.

As Herry and Odie drove off, Cronus and his monster followed them.

"HERRY!" Archie called.

"That so doesn't count as being careful!" I yelled as my heart missed a beat.

Archie wrapped his whip around one of the creatures front legs. "He's got six legs, but he's unstable," Jay informed us. "Let's use that."

Atlanta used her bolas to tie it's two front legs together. I pulled out my two swords and Jay, Theresa, and I charged forward and Herry backed into it with his truck, sending it over the edge into the water. We all watched it fall before Odie's yell of "Hurry up, you guys!" brought us back into the present.

We rushed to the array and Odie plugged his laptop into the controls.

"Odie, it's starting," I warned, shifting from foot to foot as the tides started to shift.

"We've got to get rid of those rings now," he said as he started typing. We all watched as hurricanes started to form over the ocean and the waves got bigger. "Come on, come on," he muttered, urging the solar panels to move faster.

I let out a huge sigh of relief as I felt the water calm as the rings disappeared.

"You did it, Odie!" Herry said, picking the small guy up in a hug. "You are a genius."

I laughed. "Herry, the guy needs to breathe!"

"And you might want to close your sunroof," Odie told him as he was set back on the ground.

"Why?" Herry asked, confused. Then it started to rain.

"That's why," Odie said as we all ran to the truck.

That night we were all up on the roof. I sat in the same spot with Herry beside me, as Neil went on about his luck and Theresa said she was glad the sky was back to normal. The moon was in the right spot. To tell you the truth, I was perfectly content.

"What happened to being careful?" I asked Herry as I leaned back on my hand to look up at the sky.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said, leaning back, his hand brushing mine just slightly.

"Fair enough," I said.

Herry seemed to pause a moment before starting, "The Oracle today . . ." he trailed off.

"Yeah?" I encouraged.

"What'd you see that got you so upset?"

I almost laughed at his directness. I held back the tears since I was prepared for it this time. "The day of my 14th birthday my brother and I were walking on the dock at the lake house. He pushed me and I almost fell in, so I pushed him back. He went over the side and when he didn't come back up, I dove in after him. He was unconscious when I dragged him out. He died on the way to the hospital. Everyone always said there was nothing I could've done, but there's always something." I was whispering by the time I had finished and was leaning on Herry as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. He didn't say anything and he didn't need to.

**A/N: Please don't hate me for being the worst updater ever. I'm very very very very very very very sorry. Review?**


	6. The Great Beast

**A/N: Please don't hate me! Life is crazy! Here's the next update even though it's insanely late! Brownie points to . . . **_**healme13, isabellemoria, Justyann, 50-obsessions-lib-13, Zsign KRay, Crimcon22, loveanimecouples, cresentmoon23, ImMelethLegolas, SapphireViolin, mandy618, 60, Nymphi16, **_**and **_**Loza101.**_

_**ImMelethLegolas: **_**Thanks! And yeah, I love the sass, :p it's my specialty aha :)**

_**healme13: **_**haha thx :) and do one anyway! I want to read it! :)**

_**HoneyGoddess57: **_**Thx! :) your reviews are awesome! :) they help a lot :)**

**p.s. Thank you to **_**HoneyGoddess57 **_**for pointing out that Agnon already has a name :p sorry about that so the giants are Redgy, Agnon (formerly known as Bruno), and Arctic. That's all I've named so far.**

**Chapter 6: The Great Beast  
**

Atlanta was with me putting up lost dog signs. Herry's grandma's dog ran away. Although I had dragged her along with me, Atlanta wasn't exactly happy about it.

"Should have taught the darn thing to stay," she grumbled. I just rolled my eyes as she complained. Again.

My eyebrows furrowed. "Look at all the posters." Atlanta looked at me like I was crazy. "I'm serious! This is an insane amount of lost dogs!"

She was the one that rolled her eyes this time. "Let's just finish putting up these flyers so I can get back to training."

I turned to smirk at her when she said that. "You mean so you can get back to Archie." I wiggled my eyebrows and danced away, giggling as she tried to hit me.

"There, last one," I said, stapling it to the telephone pole. "Let's get back to school."

Wow. Never though I'd hear a teenager say that.

Theresa, Atlanta, and I were out shopping when Jay and Archie came to grab us.

"You know, you two," I started, "a dog pound isn't the best choice for a double date. And you're definitely not supposed to bring a fifth wheel."

"That's what I said!" Archie exclaimed. "They were all 'We're taking girls to the dog pound' and I was like 'ummmmmm what?'"

"Oh Gods," Atlanta said, "you're thinking like Archie. I never though you were THAT stupid."

"HEY!" Archie and I yelled.

"I'm actually very smart, thank you very much!" he continued.

"Do not compare my amazing brain to Archie's sorry excuse for one!" I scoffed.

"Ok, ok already!" Theresa said, putting an end to our bickering. "We're here, get out!"

"Remind me to never sit in a small space with Selena and Archie fighting," Jay muttered to her. "It's Tartarus."

"I heard that," I called as I hopped in the bed of Herry's truck to wait for him and Odie.

They walked up with a shaking dog crate, a vicious growl coming from it.

"That's Pepe!" Atlanta said, shocked.

"The hair ribbon really softens his look," Theresa commented.

"The fact that he's wearing a hair ribbon at all is startling," I chimed.

"Do you think Cronus have anything to do with this?" Archie asked timidly.

"Dear Gods, I hope not. That would just add the incredibly large pile of crap he's done," I groaned.

"I though about it too. I don't know. It seems too small time for him," Jay dismissed.

Odie spoke up, "The tracking device is all ready. Let's see where he goes."

And with that, Pepe was released into the wild, scampering off without a backward glance.

"Let's hope he leads us to the source of the problem. Something is setting these dogs hormones into overdrive," Odie continued. "If we can find out what it is, maybe then we can reverse the effects."

And then we were off, following the little red beeping dot.

"Anyone else find it weird the fate of all the dogs in New Olympia is set on one little itty bitty red dot?" I whispered, thinking of the parallel it drew to us. Eight teenagers with the fate of the world in their hands. I don't think I'll ever get used to it.

The silence was deafening now as everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"We're getting close," Odie said, breaking the tension as we all relaxed and focused on the task at hand.

We cut through the thick brush, Herry and Jay leading the way. As we stepped into the clearing Jay simply said, "I think you can turn that off now."

Stalking towards us were two massive dogs and Pepe, red eyes glowing, foaming at the mouth, and growling savagely. We all pulled out weapons. As scary as they should be, dogs were definitely something we could handle.

All of a sudden a dog burst out of the brush, knocking Theresa down. As it charged at her again, she simply used her legs to flip him over.

Then all the dogs all started to back away, whimpering.

"Umm guys," I said uncertainly, "I think we're about to meet the alpha of the pack."

All of a sudden three skeletal heads popped out of the trees, with glowing red eyes and forked tongues.

"Woah! What is that?" Theresa cried.

"That is the reason my mother tells me to carry a change of underwear," Neil whimpered.

And then it attacked. One head lunging at Odie and Atlanta, while another went for Jay and the tail jumped at Herry and Archie. Atlanta and Odie dove out of the way, as did Archie. Herry went for a more direct approach, simply grabbing the tail. "Three heads aren't enough!" he exclaimed. "It has to have a snake for a tail!"

Jay's sword was clawed out of his hand. I dove at Jay, shoving him before the claws could find purchase. That was when the thing, whatever it was, got spit all over my face.

"I could use a little help here guys!" Herry called out.

Atlanta through her bolas at its middle head. They wrapped around heeping its mouth shut. Archie took out his whip, cutting off its tail. It simply grew back.

"Really! Can't we have one fight where the enemy doesn't have ridiculously unrealistic healing abilities! Seriously unfair!" I called to whatever ethereal being might be listening. "A little luck would be nice!"

Apparently they didn't like that because the two heads tore Atlanta's bolas off the middle head.

"we better get out of here," Jay called.

"You heard the man," Neil cried, "Let's bolt!"

"Good plan," Theresa agreed.

And with that we were gone. Atlanta booked it ahead, finding us a way out.

We followed her call to a fence with a "Beware of Dog" sign on it. Oh, the irony.

We all hopped over, Herry getting over just in time. That thing rammed its head against the fence causing Herry to go sliding down the hill.

"That was close," Theresa heaved.

"Too close, if you ask me," Herry agreed looking at his ripped pants.

"Are you ok?" I asked him, concerned.

He simply smiled, "Just peachy."

"Dogs are man's best friend, yeah right!" Atlanta called.

"More like man's worst enemy!" I added.

"I've got enough friends already," Odie shuddered. "Thanks anyway."

"Come on, let's get out of here," Jay called.

"Amen to that," I said looking over my shoulder to see the thing roaring at the fence. That was way too close for my liking.

Next step: Chiron.

"Ah here it is," he said pulling out a book. "Cerberus. A three headed canine that stands guard at the gate of the Underworld. He permits all souls to enter but none to return."

"You forgot about the snake, Chiron," Herry interjected. "Three heads and a huge snake for a tail."

"Oh, indeed," he said, putting his glasses back on. Who knew an immortal centaur would need glasses. "Watch out for that."

"Thanks for the advanced warning," I said, the sarcasm coming out of my mouth without thinking.

Chiron just shot me a look. "I can't understand how Cerberus got loose."

"I'll take Cronus for 200, please," I said.

"I agree," Chiron replied. "But even Hades has a hard time controlling Cerberus. Only cake and music can calm that beast."

"Cake, you're kidding, right?" Atlanta deadpanned.

"Oh, so it's just like Herry!" I smirked at him. He stuck his tongue out. So I stuck my tongue out back. Which resulted in a war. Until we actually tuned into the conversation when Theresa said she played the lyre.

"Oh!" Odie tried to back track. "Well, that's . . . .good."

"No, that's great!" Jay said, quite enthusiastically.

"Hold on!" Chiron stopped us. "Many believe Orpheus' lyre was enchanted. To stand before Cerberus with any other lyre would be foolish."

"Well, where can we get Orpheus' lyre?"

"In the Elysium Fields," Chiron told us.

"Well, where's that?" Odie asked. Huh, something Odie doesn't know.

"The Underworld," Chiron said, as if we would just be going to the mall. "Elysium Fields is the resting place for fallen heroes like Orpheus."

"Well, how can we get there?" Jay questioned.

"Simple," Chiron responded. "You must be a hero—"

"Got that covered," Neil interrupted, puffing out his chest. Atlanta and I rolled our eyes.

"—and you must be dead," Chiron continued.

"Yeah, real simple," I said dryly.

"I've heard about secret passage ways to the Underworld," Theresa said. She was cut off as Chiron slammed his book shut.

"And a secret they will remain," Chiron said, quite angrily. "You must find another way to contain Cerberus."

"I think I know a way," Theresa muttered quietly.

Our dorm became command central. While Neil took his 3 hour long shower, the rest of us came up with a fool proof plan. Or at least, I hoped it was fool proof. Otherwise, we were screwed.

"Well, we don't have many other options. If Theresa's right then we should have safe passage to the underworld," Jay said.

"'should' being the operative word in that sentence," I chimed in.

"Woah, woah! Hey! Hang on a sec! Didn't you guys hear the part about people never coming back from the Underworld," Neil backtracked as he walked out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel.

"Don't worry about it, Neil, you're not going," Archie told him.

"Yeah," Herry said," you're coming with us." He wrapped his arms around Atlanta and I. "We need to cage Cerberus."

"Odie," Jay asked, "think you can come about with a way to do that?"

"Of course," Odie scoffed.

"Don't question his geniusness, Jay. He's a mastermind," I laughed.

"What is this!?" Neil exclaimed. "While I'm in the bathroom, you guys all of a sudden have a plan!?"

"Neil, you sound offended," I smirked.

"You've been in there for hours. What happened? Catch your reflection in the mirror again?" Atlanta chirped.

"What can I say?" Neil swooned, running a hand through his hair. "The mirror loves me. What can I say?"

"We can't just leave Cerberus out there," Jay said, comforting Theresa. "It'll be okay."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm just worried about how Persephone will react."

"Well," I paused. "Before we deal with that, Neil go put some clothes on. No one needs to see you in a towel."

"Oh please," he scoffed, strutting out of the room, "Everyone needs to see me in a towel. I'm a work of art."

"You're something alright," Herry muttered. I snorted, trying to contain my laughter. He nudged my side sending me that smile that was meant just for me. I smiled back. I really like that smile.

Archie, Jay, and Theresa wen to talk to Persephone to get her help going to the Underworld. Neil, Odie, Atlanta and I had a much more challenging task. But, of course, Odie's a genius so it wasn't that hard. Or it shouldn't be. I tell you, we don't give that kid enough credit.

"There," he said. "That's the last piece."

It didn't look like much. Just pieces of metal linked in the shape of a diamond on the ground.

"Neil," I said, "Bait, please." He unwrapped the box, which held a large cake that looked absolutely delicious. Such a waste. We placed it right in the centre of our lovely contraption.

"This is crazy," Atlanta commented. "What's more wacked out, a dog with three heads, or the fact that he likes cake?"

Then we heard the roaring.

"I don't know, but we better get going," I said as we all dove behind the bush.

"That's a good doggie," Odie commented just before pushing the button, trapping Cerberus. "Got him!"

"Go figure," Altanta commented, amazed. "He does like cake."

"See! I told you!" I said. "Just like Herry!"

This time instead of simply sticking his tongue out at me, he nudged me with his elbow, causing me to fall from my kneeling position flat onto my but. He smirked down at me, but after seeing my pout reached his hand down to help me up. To which I smirked and pulled him down beside me, before standing up and brushing the dirt off my hands. I looked down at him with a smirk, only to see the most adorable puppy dog face that looked even cuter on a guy Herry's size. How was I supposed to just leave him there when he looked so cute?!

WOAH! Back-up! Rewind!

I pulled Herry down beside me, before standing up and brushing the dirt off my hands. I looked down at him with a smirk to see his puppy dog face. With a forced sigh, I reached my hand down to help him up.

There, much better.

By this time, Cerberus had decided to act like a dog and dig under the fence.

"So I'm going to run away now," Neil commented. "You know, get a bit of a head start."

"RUN!" we chorused, Herry dragging me along, his hand still in mine. And I kind of liked it.

WAIT! Woah! Nuh-uh!

"RUN!" we chorused, Herry dragging me with him.

Anyways. . .

Once we were back at the school it was time for Atlanta's plan.

"Atlanta, did you know violence is the first resort of a limited mind?" Odie said, still not okay with the fact that his plan didn't work.

"No, I didn't know that," Atlanta remarked.

"Me either," Herry commented.

"You learn something new everyday," I commented, picking up an EMD. I smirked. "I'm liking this."

"What's this?" Neil said, grabbing something. "Ow!"

"It's a stun batonm," I informed him.

"Let's bring that too," Atlanta said.

Now we were decked out and ready to go.

"They're getting closer to the edge of the forest," Herry said, as we heard the barking getting closer.

"Cerberus won't be going anywhere," I said, hoisting up the EMD.

"What is that thing?" Neil asked.

"It's an EMD," Odie told him. Electro Muscular Disrupter. It completely overrides the nervous system and causes all the muscles to contract."

"Nasty," Neil shuddered.

"Very," I smirked.

As soon as I saw Cerberus, I fired straight at his chest. And down he went.

"Ta da," I said, taking a bow.

"Piece of cake," Atlanta commented as Herry went over to tie Cerberus up.

And that's when Cerberus decided he didn't want to stay down anymore.

"Atlanta!" Herry yelled as he raced back to the truck.

"Maybe you shouldn't have said 'cake'," Odie commented.

"Let's go!" Herry called, jumping in the driver's seat.

Everyone dove in, I had to jump into the bed of the truck to make it out. I swear Herry took an evasive driving course because I did not know a truck could move that swiftly. And then Cerberus went over the side of the road and down the cliff.

We watched as he ran down the highway below. "I thought it was only cats that had nine lives," Herry complained.

"Well, that was close," I heaved a sigh of relief.

"Too close," Herry said, giving me a one armed hug.

"Well, time to chase it," Atlanta said.

We all piled back in. I actually got in the truck this time. As we raced down the streets, Cerberus jumped from car to car smashing and destroying everything in his path.

"Well, Neil," Herry commented as he raced through the streets, "your turn. Got a plan?"

"Yeah! Don't get in front of it!" was Neil's only suggestion as he surveyed the damage we passed.

We cornered him off with the truck in the alleyway.

"Hey, over here!" Herry called to it. "Look at me, not at the truck!" I rolled my eyes. Precious truck.

"Here, here, puppy!" I called from the other side of him, dividing his attention as Herry tied the rope around his foot. Atlanta ran around with the other end of the rope, bringing him down just as Theresa appeared with the lyre.

"Sweet dreams, Cerberus," Herry commented as we watched the great beast fall asleep.

Then Hades appeared. "Oh, poor puppy! Look at you! He's really more of an indoor dog. He shouldn't be out like this. He gets so excited. Thank you. I'm glad he's not hurt. Why don't I take that back for you?" he said, reaching for the lyre in Theresa's hands.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, handing him the lyre.

"I heard you made quite the impression on dear Orpheus," Hades said slyly. You should have seen the look on Jay's face! It took everything I had not to crack up! The boy was so jealous! "Let's go home now. puppy."

And just like that he was gone, and the great beast gone with him.

"Guys," we heard a weak call. "What happened?" Odie continued as Herry lifted the now normal sized pup off him.

"You didn't hit him with that, did you?" Atlanta asked Neil, pointing to the stun baton.

"No," Neil denied. "Did you want me to?"

Odie just glared

Herry's grandmother is awesome. Within 5 minutes of being there she'd insisted we all call her Granny.

"Ok, ok! I'm glad to see you too," she cried as Pepe licked her.

"You're ok now aren't you boy," Herry pet the dog. I guess it's true, nothing comes between a man and his dog.

"Fetch a stick?" Odie threw the stick into the truck bed.

As the boys played with the pup it allowed Granny and I some quality time together. This woman is amazing. In one simple conversation she knew my life story and I didn't even have to tell her anything. Now, she didn't know about my brother but that's not exactly something you guess. She told me all about what Herry was like as a kid, even gave me some blackmail material, simply winking and saying, "You didn't hear it from me." She was great! And the last thing she said to me before we noticed Odie, stunned on the ground.

"You're exactly who I want for my Herry to marry."

Talk about stunned.

Back at the dorm, that's all I could think about. I was sitting out on the roof under a full moon and my brain would not stop. I mean, I'd started having . . . feelings, I guess, for Herry. Not like over the moon woo let's get married feelings, but more along the lines of I worry about him when we're out on missions. More than I worry about the others. And I like when he has his arms around me. And the feeling of his hand in mine. And that smile he reserves just for me.

Oh Gods, save me.

I have a crush on Herry.

**A/N: Ta da! Hope it meets everyone's standards! Reviews and suggestions are much appreciated :) Trying to get a little more romance into this!**


	7. Nature vs Nurture

**A/N: Brownies! **_**hellraiserphoenix, atp-pc, gossamermouse101, BrokenGamerDoll**_

**I'm so sorry, but in better news . . . I GOT INTO UNIVERSITY. GUYS I HAVE A FUTURE! WOOO!**

**So now, hopefully updates will come more frequently. So sorry, but enjoy **

**Chapter 7: Nature vs. Nurture**

Needless to say, after a long night of pondering, I had come to terms with my crush on Herry. But that's all it was and all it would ever be. A crush. It was just a passing fancy. So, the next morning as we all stumbled in for breakfast, I did what any girl would do . . . completely avoided any physical or eye contact with said boy.

I ran into the kitchen, grabbed my toast and sprinted back up to my room. Then I did the unthinkable. I asked Theresa to go shopping. It was drastic but necessary. This gave me a guarantee of not running into Herry at any point during the day.

Now just to clarify, shopping with Theresa is dangerous. You think she's scary with nun chucks? Don't even try and get between her and a pair of shoes.

Of course, this fool proof plan fell through when Theresa turned to me in the middle of shoe shopping and said, "Oh yeah, the guys and Atlanta are going to meet us for lunch."

Cue face palm.

"Theresa!"

"What?" she defended. "I thought it would be a good idea. It's not like anyone else is really doing anything today. Think of it as team bonding."

I nearly screamed. There was no team bonding needed. I wanted to avoid bonding anymore with a certain person. "Theresa, stop and think for a second. Why would I, of all people, ask you to go shopping, when normally you would have to drag me out of the house? Why?"

I watched as the look of realisation dawned on her face. "Ohhhhhhh…"

I nodded. "Yeeahhhhhh..."

"Wait," her face scrunched in confusion, "who are you avoiding?"

I gave her a sheepish look. "Herry."

That surprised the hell out of her. "Herry! But the two of you are so close! You might as well be best friends!"

Wait for it. Wait for it.

"Oh my gosh, you like him! That's why you're avoiding him! Aw, Selena!"

And now comes the red faced embarrassment.

"Look, Theresa, it's not a big deal. I just don't want to talk to him until I figure out what the hell is going on with me. It's just a passing fancy, and I don't want it to be confused with something else. Or worse, do something stupid that could ruin the whole group dynamic. So, I'm just going to avoid him until school tomorrow and hope everything will be fine."

"Well, too late, there he is." Without even realizing it, I had followed Theresa all the way to the food court, and there was the whole gang.

Joy, oh joy.

And so the chorus of 'Heys' began as everyone greeted each other and we found a table big enough to sit at while we grabbed food. And just my luck, who do I get caught between? Theresa and Herry.

"So, I didn't see you at breakfast this morning," Herry said.

"Yeah, sorry, I woke up early," was my curt response.

This, of course, got me a confused glance from Herry as he muttered quietly, "Hey, you mad at me or something?"

This softened my demeanour. I wasn't mad at him. I didn't want him to think I was mad at him. I just needed time to figure myself out. I didn't want to hurt him. So I turned to him, offering a small smile and said simply, "Nah, Herry, I could never be mad at you. Just a little tired is all. Got a lot on my mind." It wasn't a complete lie.

"You know I'm here if you need to talk," he said. But then, he gave me that smile that only I ever got, and just like that I knew. This wasn't just a passing fancy. It wasn't going to just go away if I avoided him. So I would have to deal with it.

And then, with her impecible timing, Theresa nudged me with her elbow and whispered, "Mhmm just a crush," and then turned back to Jay.

So, of course, I simply nudged her back and said, "You're one to talk."

Unfortunately, I was too loud and Atlanta piped up from across the table, "One to talk about what?"

Theresa and I simply shared a look. Then Theresa turned to her and said, "We'll tell you later."

And after that, lunch was great. Filled with lots of arguments, laughs, and Neil laughing so hard, juice came out his nose (followed by a very sarcastic, "Oh, that was attractive Neil," from Atlanta). Until Jay became his leader-self once again and said, "Time to get back before we're late for training." Which was followed by groans and disappointing sighs as we all grumbled to our designated cars.

But in the parking lot Theresa had a marvellous idea that I was not at all fond of. "Hey, Jay! Why don't you come with me and Selena can go with Herry?"

We all looked at her a little confused, until Herry shrugged and said, "Sure, come on, Lena. I'll even let you drive."

My momentary shock from the nickname he'd given me passed by quickly as I rushed to his side, on our way to the truck, "Seriously? You're going to let me drive? No joke?"

He laughed, "No, I'm not letting you drive." And then climbed in the driver's side.

That was a freaking jerk move. I may not have been mad at him at lunch, but now he deserved to think I was mad at him. So I did the very mature thing. I put my bags in the back, looked in the window and said, "Fine then, I'm walking." And then turned and started to march, quite dramatically, through the parking lot.

Herry, ever the gentleman, drove right beside me the whole time saying things like "Seriously, you're this mature?" "Come on, Selena, just get in the truck." "You're going to make us late for training and Ares may kill us." "Lena, please."

That last one almost got me to give up and get in the truck because he said it with the most adorable puppy face. But I held strong. Until, of course he got out of the truck, threw me over his shoulder, and tossed me in the passengers seat before getting in and driving to the school.

Needless to say, I sat there with my arms crossed, pouting the whole way and never saying a word.

But lucky me, when we got to training, Ares decided on hand-to-hand combat for the day. And let me tell you something, Herry may be big, but I'm fast as lightening. His ass was on the mat all freaking day, and it brought me great satisfaction to beat him over and over again. It took out a lot of my frustration and I was no longer mad at him by the time training finished. It was like there was never a rift between us and we went back to the familiar banter.

Thank Gods.

The next morning, things returned to normal. As usual, Herry and I ate breakfast as the rest of the troops wandered in. Archie and Atlanta joined us after they got back from their morning run. How they get up that early to go before school, I will never know. Jay, Theresa, and Odie joined us just in time to grab some cereal before school. And Neil of course, didn't grace us with his presence until we were all threatening to leave for school without him if he didn't get out of the damn bathroom in the next five seconds (Atlanta and I were generally the ones yelling said threats).

But what started off as a simple day at school, quickly changed once we got word of the new kid. Now, I don't know about you, but to me being 'the new kid' is generally a bad thing. Somehow this kid, Phil, had become quite possible the most popular kid in school in only a few hours. He was all anybody talked about. And apparently he was throwing a party on Friday. Theresa and I figured that gave us a whole week to dig up some dirt.

Theresa and I met up with Atlanta at her locker.

"Have you ever seen anyone become so popular so fast?" Theresa said.

"He must have a spell on the whole female population of the school. It's crazy!" I agreed.

"I know!" Atlanta said.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

"Ladies," Phil smiled at us, handing Atlanta the flyer, "Consider this a personal invitation to my concert."

"We were just talking about how this school could use a good party," Theresa said, smiling back at him.

"Hey," Atlanta said looking up from the flyer with a million watt smile, "This is a benefit for the Green Alliance? I volunteer for them all the time!"

"Really," Phil replied, "You know, out of all the environmental groups, it's the one I respect the most."

"Me too," Atlanta said in awe.

Then Phil got an idea. "Would you mind helping me hand out these flyers? The more people that know about the show, the more money we can raise for the Alliance."

"Yeah, sure," she said, not even hesitating to go with him. She didn't give us a backwards glance.

"Ummm….did we just get ditched?" I said to Theresa.

She got a puzzled look on her face. "Yeah, I think we did."

As we all sat at lunch, we could see Atlanta and Phil.

"Aw, a lunch date, how cute," I mocked. Honestly, I was happy she found someone she was interested in, but as one of her best friends, she would get teased mercilessly by me. It's in the Best Friend Code of Conduct. It's true, look it up.

"I always figured Atlanta would have higher standards," Neil said, looking down with a strange fascination.

"They're just sitting together, it doesn't mean they're dating," Archie denied. I think he was still holding on to that little bit of hope that he still had time to ask her out.

Ever the sensitive one, Theresa chimed in, "Hey, we should be happy Atlanta's finally met someone."

"Oh, we are," I said, "But she's never going to hear the end of it."

"Yeah, well, I think I'd make better DJ than him," Neil said as Theresa and I shared a look, rolling our eyes. "I mean, just look at me! I'm handsome, personable, and co-ordinated beyond belief." He then proceeded to give us a fabulous demonstration with the cafeteria plates, complete with sound effects. We all started laughing as the devil himself strolled up.

"Hey c-ch-ch-check it out! Scratch it DJ Neil!"

"There you go, Neil," Herry mocked, "You've officially been dubbed 'DJ material'."

I turned to him with a proud look, "I think I'm rubbing off on you." He just shot me that smile with a wink that would've made my legs turn to jelly had I been standing up.

Then the most horrifying thing happened. Archie stood up. "Hey Atlanta, listen, I've been meaning to ask you something. I—"

Theresa and I both shot up out of our seats. "Atlanta! Conference call!"

Then we dragged her out into the hallway.

"So what's the story with you and Phil?" Theresa asked as we cornered her against the lockers.

"Yeah, spill the beans," I said.

"I-I really like him," she said honestly. "He's smart, cool, and he's totally into the same things as me."

"I've never seen you act like this before," Theresa responded, almost concerned.

Atlanta got a giddy smile on her face. "That's because I've never felt like this before."

I smiled at her. "We're happy for you, 'Lanta, we are, but just don't go too fast ok?"

She nodded at me, before heading on her way.

I turned to Theresa once Atlanta had turned the corner. "I'm worried."

"Me too," she said, chewing her bottom lip. "Something just doesn't seem right."

"So, we leave it alone and keep our eyes open."

She looked appalled. "And snoop, of course," her tone suggesting it was the most obvious thing in the world, and how on earth could I forget that.

The next day, as Theresa and I were walking down the steps outside the school (sans Atlanta, again), Herry came up from behind me, wrapped his arm around my shoulders said, "Theresa, I'm kidnapping her," and steered me away to his truck.

"Don't I get a say in whether you kidnap me?" I said, climbing into the truck.

"Well, considering you're willingly getting into the truck, I figured you don't want to be at school anymore than I do right now."

"Fair enough," I nodded, "So what are you planning on doing, now that you've kidnapped me?"

"I don't know. I didn't think anything further than kidnapping you to spend the day with you," he said, glancing over at me.

I held back my blush, realizing it was Herry and he probably didn't mean anything by that and was just stating fact, but boy did I wish he meant it the way it sounded.

As we walked up the steps to the dorm, I went straight into the living room, sat on the floor and opened the cupboards under the TV to look for a movie.

Herry just leaned on the door frame, staring with a smirk and raised eyebrows saying, "So I guess were watching a movie then?"

I beamed up at him, "Yup! You want to make popcorn?" And with that, he headed off to the kitchen. He walked back in just as the menu came up for _Crazy Stupid Love_.

He groaned as he sat the popcorn down on the coffee table before throwing himself back on the couch. "Whhhyyyyyy? This is torture."

I laughed as I sat down beside him. "It hasn't even started yet! And besides, weren't you the one who said you just wanted to spend the day with me?" I smiled up at him batting my eyelashes.

He looked down at me and said quietly, "You're lucky I love you." Then he paused a moment before sighing and saying, "Play the damn movie."

I gave him a small smile and replied with a soft, "Thank you," before pressing play and getting myself settled next to Herry on the couch, the popcorn in his lap, his arms stretched across the back of the couch as I curled up beside him with my blanket.

Next thing I know, I'm rubbing sleep out of my eyes. I definitely don't remember falling asleep, but here I am leaning against Herry, a hand on his chest, legs splayed across his lap, and his arms wrapped tight around me as his head rests on mine. When we got like this, I don't know, but if Theresa saw this she would have a field day!

I tried to slowly disentangle myself but all that happened was Herry's arms tightening around me. I loved it, don't get me wrong, but it would really suck if someone saw us like this. So I had to wake Herry up whether I liked it or not.

I started off quietly, just shaking his shoulder and saying, "Herry, wake up." When that didn't work I tried everything short of yelling in his face, so I did the only thing left I could think of. I bit his neck, or at least what was visible to me. Needless to say he woke up with a sleepy, "What the hell?!" Then he realized the position we were in and let go immediately as his face went beat red. I scooted to the far end of the couch, both of us looking anywhere but each other.

"So…"

"So…"

"Pretend this never happened?"

His face looked almost crestfallen for a second, before he nodded, "Yup."

"Great," I said before sprinting upstairs and barricading myself in my room.

Just great.

The next morning, Theresa, Neil, Herry and I were hanging outside at school.

"Did they fire the gardener or something?" Theresa said, looking at all the plants slowly overrunning the schoolyard.

"Mr. Suez sure is letting this place go," I agreed.

"I know, it's like this everywhere, it's weird!" Herry said.

"Speaking of weird," Neil said pointedly as Atlanta and Phil walked passed, arm in arm.

"Hey guys," Atlanta waved, absentmindedly.

"Looks like someone's too busy to be with her friends," Neil called after them.

"It's alright by us," Theresa said, shrugging her shoulders. I gave a half-hearted nod. "We're just glad she's found someone."

"Yeah, but it's kind of fast, don't you think?" Herry pointed out.

"At least someone agrees with me," I muttered. Herry just nudged my arm and smiled down at me.

"So when are we going to snoop?" Neil turned to us.

"Count me out," Herry said immediately.

"I'm free tonight," Theresa sidled closer to Neil.

"Me too," I said. Herry looked at me in shock. "What? I'm just slightly concerned that's all!"

"Yeah," Theresa defended, "Neil and Selena have a point. No one even knows the guy."

"Great," Neil chimed, "Then let's do it." He moved between me and Theresa, throwing his arms around us.

"Neil," I said quietly, "Remove your arm now, or I will remove it for you." He snapped his arms away from Theresa and I in a flash. "Good boy," I laughed as we walked away.

"This forest is freaking creepy," I said as we made our way to Phil's place.

"I'm getting weird vibes from this place," Theresa said shakily as we walked.

"That's because it is a weird, creepy place," Neil stated with a duh tone of voice, before letting out a very high pitched shriek as a leaf landed on his face.

Theresa and I simply rolled our eyes as Neil let out an indignant, "What?"

Theresa snuck up to the house as Neil and I snooped through the yard.

"Why is there a random backpack?" I said, confused.

Neil reached down to grab it, as a vine shot out from the bushes and wrapped around his wrist. He quickly pulled his arm back with a yelp, snapping the vine.

"Now that's creepy."

"Told you so."

"You're telling me," Theresa called quietly from the house. "The guy is such a slime ball!"

I quickly jogged up to the window with her, just to hear Phil say, "Maybe I've finally found my muse."

In my head all I could hear was Atlanta last night, gushing about how he called her 'his muse'. And Atlanta never gushes. That jerk!

"That is just so wrong!" Theresa ranted.

"That clinches it," Neil said to himself, "I am definitely becoming a DJ now."

I smacked his arm. "You ever do that to girls and I will hit you so hard your grandchildren will feel it!"

"We have to tell Atlanta," Theresa said.

"I thought that was obvious," I told her.

"I'd rather you didn't," came an angry voice from behind us.

"No one can move that fast," I muttered worriedly to Theresa. As we looked back in the window, the girl was too caught up in Phil's music to notice he was gone.

"Stay away from Atlanta you creep!" Theresa shouted.

As he howled at the moon, I said quietly, "I think that's the least of our worries right now."

"Dude, stick to spinning records," Neil advised, "You have no singing voice."

And then the vines wrapped around our ankles.

"Now that I have your attention," Phil stated.

Theresa was the first to break through her vines, me closely following. That's when the fight began, but even Theresa, who was a black belt at the age of 12, couldn't get a hit on this guy. He was untouchable. Then with another howl, we were wrapped in vines and stuck in a tree.

No matter how much we called, no one would hear us.

**Herry's POV**

He hadn't seen Lena since yesterday when she'd gone off with Theresa and Neil. The other two weren't back yet either, but it wasn't like them to stay out all night. He became increasingly worried when she wasn't there to have breakfast with him before school. As Herry walked up to Jay and Archie, he couldn't get the bad feeling out of the pit of his stomach, praying she would be in home room.

"Hey, have you seen Theresa, Neil or Selena?" Jay asked.

"Not since yesterday," he responded, his concerns growing. "Neil wanted to spy on Phil, so Theresa and Lena went with him."

"Let's check inside," Jay said, "They might be in homeroom."

"So, it's 'Lena' now is it?" Archie smirked as they walked up the steps.

"Worry about your own love life first," Herry shot back.

He wasn't quite sure when he started referring to her as Lena in his head, but when the name slipped out at the mall, he knew it was serious. He wasn't quite certain what this feeling was, but he knew that he loved having her in his arms that day they fell asleep on the couch. And now, with her missing, he couldn't get this weight off his chest.

All he knew was he needed to find her. Now.

**Selena's POV**

"Selena, don't you have your swords with you?" Theresa asked, as the idea popped into her head.

I groaned, "No, I didn't wear my rings. I thought we were just going to snoop on a guy that Atlanta liked, not get held hostage by magical plants. I didn't think I'd need them."

Think, Selena, think.

Theresa started swinging herself into a tree. It looked like it hurt like hell, but at least it was an attempt to break the vines.

After a rather hard wing she let out an, "Ow! Maybe you should try it, Neil."

"Wack myself into a tree?" he said. "Don't think so."

Wait, Neil.

"Neil!" I called out, getting excited. "Do you have anything in your pockets, nail clippers, anything?"

He brightened as he realized, "I have a nail file!"

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Theresa called as she swung herself over and flipped, grabbing the file out of Neil's pocket with her teeth. I'm sorry but I would never want to get my face that close to Neil's but.

"Selena," Theresa called, although it came out more like, "Swemena."

I swung myself over, grabbing the nail file out of her mouth and cutting one of the vines. Then I swung over, cutting Theresa down and then Neil. Theresa landed gracefully on her feet, while Neil let out a yelp when he hit the ground with a thud. I let myself down, landing in a crouch. Then we were off.

"Wait, what about the others?" Neil said as we looked back up at the innocents stuck in the tree.

"They're fine," Theresa said in a rush.

"We'll get them down later," I agreed. "You know, after we stop plants from coming to life."

We ran up as Atlanta kneeled beside Phil, the man looked like he was in pure agony. The stage was absolutely obliterated, and there was a giant four-headed dead plant in the middle of the clearing.

"Woah, come concert!" Neil called.

"Yeah, looks like we missed a great party," Theresa sassed.

"Yeah, drat," I mocked.

And then the earth started to shake, and the cracks swallowed up the extra plants and vines lying around as they closed, and it seemed like everything was back to normal.

Until I noticed the tear in the side of Herry's shirt. As Atlanta took care of Phil, or I guess Pan, I walked over to Herry.

"Are you okay?" I asked hurriedly, as my hand went to the tear, checking to make sure there was no blood coming from the skin underneath.

He simply smirked down at me. "Why? Concerned?" he mocked.

I fought to keep the blush down as I looked up and answered poshly, "Not at all, but you ruined a perfectly good shirt."

His gaze turned serious as his hands rested on my shoulders. "Are you okay?"

I smiled, "All in a days work, right?" He didn't look quite satisfied with that answer. Both my hands rested on his waist now and I said simply, "I'm fine, Herry. Really." He looked slightly less concerned. "Now seriously, what'd you do?"

He smirked just a bit, and I felt immensely better, until he said, "Got up close and personal with a plant that spewed acid."

I looked up shocked, "You did what?! Herry, that's a little too close, don't you think!" If he had have been just an inch further left he would've been toast.

He laughed, "Lena, I'm fine." I was so not okay with this. "Lena," he said bending just a little bit to look straight in my eyes, "I'm fine. I'm okay, I promise. Not a scratch."

I nodded, though the smile never returned to my face. Herry just wrapped me in his arms, and I wrapped my arms around him. It was a relief, to be back together and know that we were both okay. That we would be just fine.

Herry, Theresa, Neil, and I wandered back to the tree that still had the innocents hanging in it. We got everyone down and safely into the truck. I watched as Pan left into the woods and Archie and Atlanta went back to their usual bantering.

It seemed like everything was going back to normal. As I looked across at Herry in the driver's seat, I realized normal was good. We may have been expected to save the world, but whether the Gods realized it or not, we were normal teenagers and we were going to fight with each other and we were going to have crushes and we were going to stress about school, but we had a bond that no one could ever break. So screw what would happen in the future, because right now, we were normal. Well, our version of normal at least.

**A/N: So hoped you guys liked that chapter! A little bit more Herry/Selena moments in that one! Let me know what you thought! Any suggestions or constructive criticism is most welcome!**


End file.
